IN DEPTH


The real reason you may miss working in a building


Storytelling is the life-blood of any organisation’s culture which is why it is so important to knowledge managers. Here Ian Rodwell, Head of Client Knowledge and Learning at Linklaters, explains why this makes buildings matter more than we think.


HAVING started my career in the libraries at Imperial College and then as a business information officer at the Institute of Directors, I have spent the last 30 years working in Knowl- edge and Learning at the global law firm, Linklaters.


One thread that runs through my entire working life is an abiding interest in stories — those informal examples and anecdotes that emerge in everyday organisational conversations — and how we use stories to build relationships, solve problems and share knowledge. Indeed, having completed an MBA in the early 2000s, I decided to translate this interest into part-time doctoral research at the Department of Library and Information Science at City University. Organisational storytelling is a well-researched­


­field.­And­this­research­


has recognised storytelling as a valuable activity. It helps people learn (Swap et al., 2001); share what they know (Snowden, 1999);­diffuse­organisational­culture­ (Wilkins,­1984);­affirm­or­question­identi- ties (van Hulst and Ybema, 2020); release emotion (Tangherlini, 2000); instil a sense of leadership (Humphreys, Ucbasaran and Lockett, 2012); build trust (Auvinen, Altio and­Blomqvist,­2013);­and­make­sense­of­ the­world­(Patriotta,­2003).­


But my interest was somewhat particu- lar. I was curious about where storytelling


28 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL


takes place in organisations. And strangely, there is little research on the spaces that encourage­and­support­the­most­effective­ storytelling and ‘how stories and storytell- ing­vary­across­different­settings’­(van­Hulst­ and­Ybema,­2020,­p.­366).­This­omission­is­ one of the ‘main concerns raised on story- telling­as­we­know­it­today’­(Fotaki,­Altman­ and Koning, 2020, p. 18). There is some evidence, however, that marginal or liminal spaces (cafés, photocopier rooms, corridors, colleagues’­homes,­canteens,­car­parks)­are­


January-February 2022


Ian Rodwell (ian.rodwell@linklaters.com) is Head of Client Knowledge and Learning at Linklaters.


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