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Denise Withers

dw@denisewithers.com

Why failures make the best stories

Why failures make the best stories

"I can't think of a good story to tell." Sound familiar? It's a response I get every time I teach storytelling. And my most recent workshop with the Fraser Basin Council was no exception. The young leaders I was working with were doing incredible

An insider's advice for narrative change

An insider's advice for narrative change

We're all in the business of narrative change. Whether we're trying to cut greenhouse gas emissions, build a stronger team at work or just lose five pounds – what we're really trying to do is replace the stories that control our current culture and behaviour

Inside the journey to scale the seaweed industry

Inside the journey to scale the seaweed industry

When Mark Smith and his colleagues set out to help strengthen the economy on Vancouver Island, they had no idea that they'd end up trying to commercialize and scale an industry with the potential to address almost all of the crises we face today. Five years later, he

The seeds of change don't sow themselves

The seeds of change don't sow themselves

It's April. The month of fresh starts. A new season. New fiscal. New quarter. New semester. New lunar cycle. A chance to do things differently. Some of my clients are taking the opportunity to spring clean their work lives, reviewing and getting rid of processes, goals, assumptions and

The role of hope in leadership and storytelling

The role of hope in leadership and storytelling

Last week I sat on a panel at an event organized by the Association for Managers of Innovation, a group that was new to me. The topic was re-framing hope. Now, I have to confess that, up until that day, hope wasn't something I'd thought a

Innovation insights to shift behavior

Innovation insights to shift behavior

Through my work, I have the opportunity to collaborate with some amazing thinkers and doers in the innovation space. Every time we connect, I learn something new. So I thought I'd start to share some of their key insights here in a new series of "Qwotes"

Who should be the hero of my story?

Who should be the hero of my story?

One question that came up in last week's group storytelling workshop was – who should be the hero of my story? It's one of the most important decisions you'll make when designing your story, as it will determine whether your audience chooses to pay attention