Storytelling 
Dave Rippey's story:
Organizational storytelling
 The Global Context: Life & Death



THE GLOBAL CONTEXT OF LIFE & DEATH: DAVE RIPPEY'S STORY 
   The Smithsonian workshop on April 12, 2003 took place in the middle of the war against Iraq and the minds of many were on those events. It wasn't possible to cover all these stories. A space was created in the corner of the conference room, where Seth Kahan could facilitate a discussion of any story that is not being covered in the plenary sessions. 

    In the workshop prior to the April 12 workshop. Paul Costello took a group through the Living Stories process. One of the stories that emerged from that workshop and which continued to resonate through the weekend of storytelling was Dave Rippey's story about a simple event that occurred on the morning of April 11, 2003 and became a memorable story:
 

I DO NOT REGRET THE INCONVENIENCE

Dave Rippey: I began with some reflections on beginnings and endings. Our charge was talk a little bit about beginnings and endings. And my own reflection on that was that our entire lives, our days, our moments, are characterized by beginnings and endings. Some we notice, and some we don’t. Some are more dramatic. Some are more auspicious. But in any case, our lives are surrounded by them. So that’s to say that beginnings and endings are where you find them, and ultimately, what you make of them. 

   So I had such an experience this morning, coming in on the metro. I, along with a number of other people here, heard the announcement that an individual had been struck by a train at Metro Center and that further, “We regret the inconvenience, and thank you for your patience.” 

   And that brought me up short. What occurred to me was a question: what if those were the first words spoken in public about this individual, should the individual happen to have died. I thought: what an epitaph! “We apologize for the inconvenience. We thank you for your patience.” 

   It was at that moment that I felt a sort of daily beginning with a fresh resolve that should this day mark the end of my life, the first public things said about me would be, “We do not regret the inconvenience.” (laughter, applause) 
 

Madelyn 
Blair
Tel 301 371-7100 : mblair@pelerei.com; www.Pelerei.Com
Steve Denning
Tel. 966 9392
steve@stevedenning.com
www.stevedenning.com
Paul 
Costello
 Tel  301 585-3610 
paulstorywise@yahoo.com www.storywise.com
Seth Kahan 
Tel 301 229-2221; Email: Seth@SethKahan.com  www.sethkahan.com
Rob Creekmore
Tel. 703-435-4623
Alicia
Korten

Tel.  202 364-5369; 
alicia@renual.com
www.renual.com

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To buy:
The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations
by Steve Denning (October 2000) Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston, USA

          Paperback - 192 pages. ISBN: 0750673559 
To read 
advance 
chapters 
of :
The Squirrel: The Seven Highest Value Forms of Organizational Storytelling
          by Steve Denning (work in progress) 
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