Stories of self, us, and now: A tool for navigating uncertainty

By Gemma Jiang, Alexis Niki, Darius Melvin and Sarah Hind.

In times of uncertainty, especially when the role of research, as well as research funding are under threat, how can research teams effectively respond? How can storytelling help?

We show how Marshall Ganz’s (2009) Stories of Self, Us, and Now framework can move groups from individual experiences of uncertainty (Self) to shared meaning (Us), and toward concrete action steps (Now).

Workshop Context

Leadership team members from a large transdisciplinary, cross-institutional research center, entering the fifth (final) year of their funding cycle, partnered with an external team science expert (Gemma Jiang) to co-create this workshop for center participants. The workshop aimed to deepen team science capacity and build resilience amid funding uncertainty.

To design the workshop process, the leadership team met twice with the team science expert to define format, timing, and participant outcomes. The 90-minute workshop involving about 35 people in total was delivered virtually.

Workshop Process

Shared Language

The workshop began with a 20 minute session to create shared language for navigating uncertainty with the following concepts:

• Polarity Thinking: This shows how apparent opposites, like certainty::uncertainty, and hope::fear, are interdependent and must coexist (Emerson and Lewis, 2019; the double colon “::” is a symbol that highlights the opposing yet interdependent relationship between the two poles of a polarity). Each side adds value, and balance is important; for example, too much certainty breeds rigidity, while too much uncertainty causes paralysis.
• The BANI framework: BANI stands for Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear, Incomprehensible (Kraaijenbrink, 2022), and frames uncertainty not as a temporary disruption, but as a constant condition of today’s world. Acceptance of uncertainty transforms fear into hope through the discovery of agency.
• Sensemaking–Decision Making–Action Taking: Leadership is not only about decisions or actions, but also collective sensemaking. In situations of uncertainty, slowing down to interpret together prevents groups from getting stuck and informs wiser choices (Jiang, 2023).
• Divergence–Convergence Diamond: Teams naturally move through cycles of diverging and converging as experiences are shared (divergence) and meanings are made (convergence) as described in Gemma Jiang’s 2021 i2Insights contribution Enabling divergent and convergent thinking in cross-disciplinary graduate students.

The workshop continued with three rounds of storytelling in fixed small breakout groups of four to five participants at similar career stages. Each group selected a note-taker and a timekeeper to guide the process.

Round 1: Story of Self

In the first 20 minutes participants responded to two prompts in their breakout groups:

• What does this moment of uncertainty mean for me?
• How has it impacted me personally and/or professionally?

After individual sharing, group members worked together to identify the meanings that emerged from the exchange. Stories themselves were not recorded for privacy reasons (and participants were reminded not to share individual stories outside the group); only collective insights were captured in a shared document.

Examples of insights that surfaced included:

• High-level decision processes felt troubling and out of their control, yet local research groups remained pillars of strength.
• Uncertainty around funding and visas (for team members from other countries) created stress and anger, but daily routines and shared challenges provided stability and connection.
• Career upheaval forced adaptability and new directions.

All workshop participants then reconvened from their breakouts for a 10-minute debrief, sharing insights and meanings drawn from their stories. This round revealed how personal experiences resonated across the groups, laying the foundation for collective sensemaking.

Round 2: Story of Us

The second round shifted the focus from individuals to the team. Participants spent 15 minutes in their breakout groups with the same group members looking across the meanings generated in the small groups during Round 1 and asked:

• How do these stories impact us as a team or research center?
• What story of a future version of us is beginning to emerge?

Patterns that emerged included:

• Acknowledging uncertainty made it easier to support one another.
• A sense of community around shared values strengthened resolve.
• Friendships and collegiality gave rise to vision, meaning, and purpose.

Once patterns were identified, each breakout group crafted a collective “Story of Us” that weaved together the meanings.

One example story is:

“Through this period of uncertainty, we’ve been prompted to re-evaluate our priorities and values, shifting our focus toward people rather than recognition or accolades. It’s offered an opportunity to reflect on what truly gives our work meaning and what intrinsically motivates us to succeed in our roles. As a result, we now experience a deeper sense of satisfaction and purpose in our professional activities.”

These collective stories were shared across the whole team in a 5-minute debrief.

Round 3: Story of Now

The final round turned toward possibility and action. Participants spent 15 minutes in their breakout groups responding to two prompts:

• What is one smallest next step we can take that opens new possibilities?
• Where do we see a “crack of light?”

Each group mapped their ideas onto a triangle with vertices labeled ‘accept’, ‘act’, and ‘investigate’,” showing whether each idea leaned toward accepting circumstances, taking actions, or exploring further. This mapping was done by each breakout group as a whole, not individually. This visual frame helped crystalize next steps.

Examples of ideas and where they were mapped onto the triangle:

• Need to be self-reflective and ready for change (near accept).
• The possibility for the research center to create a professional development offering to support graduate students and early career researchers (between investigate and accept).
• Conversations about the team’s values (between investigate and act).

These actions from each breakout group were shared across the whole team in a 5-minute debrief. By the end of this round, abstract uncertainties had become concrete possibilities participants could carry forward.

Conclusions

The workshop moved from individual sensemaking to shared meaning and collective action. Storytelling fostered curiosity, connection, and hope, transforming fear into momentum and grounding it in concrete next steps—a depth of engagement rarely seen in the center’s trainings.

How are your teams navigating uncertainty in the evolving science landscape? What role might collective storytelling play in cultivating resilience, connection, and hope?

References:

Emerson, B. and Lewis, K. (2019). Navigating polarities: Using both/and thinking to lead transformation. Paradoxical Press: Washington DC, United States of America.

Ganz, M. (2009). What is public narrative: Self, us and now. Worksheet, Harvard Kennedy School: Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America. (Online): https://dash.harvard.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/7312037d-c817-6bd4-e053-0100007fdf3b/content (PDF 565KB).

Jiang, G. (2023). Collaborative leadership in team science: Dynamics of sense making, decision making, and action taking. Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics, 8: 1211407. (Online – open access) (DOI): https://doi.org/10.3389/frma.2023.1211407

Kraaijenbrink, J. (2022). What BANI really means (and how it corrects your world view). Forbes, June/July 2022. (Online): https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeroenkraaijenbrink/2022/06/22/what-bani-really-means-and-how-it-corrects-your-world-view/

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Statement: Generative artificial intelligence was not used in the development of this i2Insights contribution. (For i2Insights policy on generative artificial intelligence please see https://i2insights.org/contributing-to-i2insights/guidelines-for-authors/#artificial-intelligence.)

Biography: Gemma Jiang PhD is a senior team scientist at the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences (IRISS) of Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. She applies complexity leadership theory, social network analysis, and a suite of facilitation and coaching methods to enable cross-disciplinary science teams to converge upon solutions for challenges of societal importance.

Biography: Alexis Niki BFA is a Professional Certified Coach with a focus on narrative leadership and story strategist who helps leaders, teams, and organizations strengthen their capacity to recognize, shape, and live stories with intention. She has worked with organizations ranging from cultural institutions to global corporations. She is based in Paris, France.

Biography: Darius Melvin MEd currently serves as the Assistant Director for Centerwide Engagement and Partnerships for the US National Science Foundation-funded Science and Technology Center CROPPS (Center for Research on Programmable Plant Systems), operating across six universities. He is based at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York state, USA. He contributes to centerwide strategic planning, while leading broader impacts and team science programming.

Biography: Sarah Hind PhD is an assistant professor of practice at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, USA and the Associate Director of Integrated Education for the Center for Research on Programmable Plant Systems (CROPPS), a US National Science Foundation-supported Science and Technology Center, operating across six universities. She supports efforts to provide professional development and training for the next generation of transdisciplinary scientists.