Reflection - Storytelling      Challenge and Selection

Storytelling is a tool which can be used by anyone in any point of time in their life. It can be used  at any instance to motivate someone, to give an idea about something to someone, to explain  something etc. I worked as the head of event management for the events organised in my  school and had to deal with different people with different mindsets. And it's not easy because  all the fingers of the hand aren't the same and each one of us in the organising committee have  different perspectives which often leads to conflicts and misunderstanding. Every event  management team ever has to face such issues. Even though we have department heads for  each department like the marketing department, human resource department, information  department etc., confusions still occur and me being the head of the whole event try solving  these confusions in different ways possible. Listening to whatever someone is talking about is  very important before you get into conclusions so the first thing is to listen to both the parties  what the conflict is about and then give your view and sort the conflict rather than listening to  only half of it and being biased. It gives a sense of satisfaction to the person when you listen to  them completely and they don't feel left out.        Application

Storytelling helped a lot during one of the most difficult situations I faced. Once during a group  discussion for an event, everyone got into a conflict due to differing opinions and because of  which we couldn't finalize on what exactly had to be done on the day and we had very less time  left for the event. So I decided to gather everyone and tell everyone a story. One of the popular  stories which inspired me and indeed taught me how important teamwork is, the story “Bundle  of sticks”.     It's a story of an old man and his three sons in a village. All the sons were hard working but  none of them agreed to each other and kept quarrelling always. The old man tried alot to unite  them but always failed. The villagers were surprised at the hard work of the three sons but they  also made fun of their fights. Once the old man fell sick and asked his sons to stay united but  none of them heard the old man so he decided to teach them a lesson. The old man called his  sons and gave them a bundle of sticks and told them to separate each stick and break them into  two pieces and the one who breaks fast will be rewarded and all the sons agreed and did so.  And again they started quarrelling among them on who finished first. Then the old man again  gave them another bundle of sticks and told the sons to break the bundle of sticks as such and  not separately. The sons tried to break the bundle of sticks but they couldn't and failed the task  given by their father. So the father told his sons “ Dear sons, you could easily break a single

stick into two pieces but you were not able to break the bundle! So if you stay united, nobody  can do any harm to you. If you quarrel every time with your brothers others can easily defeat  you. So always stay united.”  The three sons understood the power of unity and promised their  father that they will always stay united.       Insight and Approach

When I narrated this story to my team it made everyone think for a minute and there was  complete silence. Because even they all were quarrelling just like the three brothers. Even  though all were hardworking in each of their assigned work there were not united and just  wanted to compete with each other while all were working towards the same goal. So this story  indeed motivated everyone and they started to acknowledge and appreciate each other. They  heard each other and corrected each other. New ideas were generated during group  discussions and everyone had a chance to participate and show their talent. There was a  positive and friendly atmosphere. And this idea worked extremely well because people came up  with interesting ideas which created wonders.   Seeing this I was very satisfied as the head of the event management. Because I felt I  succeeded and fulfilled my responsibility by keeping the team united by storytelling. And then  we organised various successful and interesting events with great teamwork.


Reflection - Storytelling Challenge and Selection Storytelling is a tool which can be used by anyone in any point of time in their life . It can be used at any instance to motivate someone , to give an idea about something to someone , to explain something etc . I worked as the head of event management for the events organised in my school and had to deal with different people with different mindsets . And it 's not easy because all the fingers of the hand are n't the same and each one of us in the organising committee have different perspectives which often leads to conflicts and misunderstanding . Every event management team ever has to face such issues . Even though we have department heads for each department like the marketing department , human resource department , information department etc . , confusions still occur and me being the head of the whole event try solving these confusions in different ways possible . Listening to whatever someone is talking about is very important before you get into conclusions so the first thing is to listen to both the parties what the conflict is about and then give your view and sort the conflict rather than listening to only half of it and being biased . It gives a sense of satisfaction to the person when you listen to them completely and they do n't feel left out . Application Storytelling helped a lot during one of the most difficult situations I faced . Once during a group discussion for an event , everyone got into a conflict due to differing opinions and because of which we could n't finalize on what exactly had to be done on the day and we had very less time left for the event . So I decided to gather everyone and tell everyone a story . One of the popular stories which inspired me and indeed taught me how important teamwork is , the story “ Bundle of sticks ” . It 's a story of an old man and his three sons in a village . All the sons were hard working but none of them agreed to each other and kept quarrelling always . The old man tried alot to unite them but always failed . The villagers were surprised at the hard work of the three sons but they also made fun of their fights . Once the old man fell sick and asked his sons to stay united but none of them heard the old man so he decided to teach them a lesson . The old man called his sons and gave them a bundle of sticks and told them to separate each stick and break them into two pieces and the one who breaks fast will be rewarded and all the sons agreed and did so . And again they started quarrelling among them on who finished first . Then the old man again gave them another bundle of sticks and told the sons to break the bundle of sticks as such and not separately . The sons tried to break the bundle of sticks but they could n't and failed the task given by their father . So the father told his sons “ Dear sons , you could easily break a single stick into two pieces but you were not able to break the bundle ! So if you stay united , nobody can do any harm to you . If you quarrel every time with your brothers others can easily defeat you . So always stay united . ” The three sons understood the power of unity and promised their father that they will always stay united . Insight and Approach When I narrated this story to my team it made everyone think for a minute and there was complete silence . Because even they all were quarrelling just like the three brothers . Even though all were hardworking in each of their assigned work there were not united and just wanted to compete with each other while all were working towards the same goal . So this story indeed motivated everyone and they started to acknowledge and appreciate each other . They heard each other and corrected each other . New ideas were generated during group discussions and everyone had a chance to participate and show their talent . There was a positive and friendly atmosphere . And this idea worked extremely well because people came up with interesting ideas which created wonders . Seeing this I was very satisfied as the head of the event management . Because I felt I succeeded and fulfilled my responsibility by keeping the team united by storytelling . And then we organised various successful and interesting events with great teamwork .