Annet Scheringa, co-author of Storytelling Handboek
A great story
Charlie laughs, Charlie cries*
The mailroom of a big insurance company is manned by employees with a disability: a great example of corporate social responsibility. We admire the manager of the department, who has succeeded in turning it into a well-run operation. With endless patience and understanding, the man has eyes at the back of his head and extremely sensitive antennae. But all these qualities have not been enough to get postman ‘Charlie’ to complete his rounds of the Marketing and Communication department in a calm and peaceful way. Charlie has a mental disability. Twice a day he will shout out ‘moooooorning!’ or ‘good aaaaaaafternoooooooon!’. The choice between the two isn’t necessarily determined by the time of day, but more by the mood he’s in. And he has a good number of moods! During an important meeting between the Communications manager and a delegation of management team members from overseas, Charlie was rushing up and down the corridor sobbing loudly. The overseas guests didn’t know him and reacted shocked: ‘What on earth is going on here’, they asked in amazement. Charlie opened the door and threw the mail onto the desk. After Charlie had slammed the door shut, still sobbing, the Communications manager turned casually to his guests and said: ‘That was our previous Communications manager.’ His comment broke the ice and after giving a short explanation of the organization’s policy on corporate social responsibility, they returned to their business. The guests were impressed by the story and particularly by the relaxed way in which the manager had reacted to the situation: for him there was nothing unusual about Charlie’s outbursts, and he didn’t feel at all embarrassed by the incident.
The story about Charlie attributes meaning to the situation and explains why Charlie’s behaviour within this organization is totally accepted. The Communications manager’s calm reaction shows: from the top level down to the lowest level, we consider it completely normal that people with a disability have a place in our organization. And thus we accept their behaviour. Even though it may not always be appropriate. And in the company of others we deal with situations like this in a relaxed manner.
We first heard the story when it was a couple of months old. By that time, almost everybody who received guests while Charlie was doing his rounds in tears, was telling the story. The humour in the story creates a relaxed atmosphere and the storyteller and the listener share a moment of understanding. Whoever tells the story, it contains the same message: we don’t pity Charlie nor are we ashamed of his behaviour or irritated by it.
Gabriel calls this a folklore story.[i] The people who pass this story on haven’t experienced the situation themselves: they have heard others tell the story. The story makes it very clear what the organization stands for and tells us a lot about the organizational culture and the identity of the company. The story is now even included in the introduction process for new employees. As an ice-breaker, but also to communicate the organization’s culture: ‘This is the way we do things around here.’
[i] Gabriel 2000.
*Translated from: Storytelling Handboek, Tesselaar/Scheringa, 2008 (Dutch version)