Grand Narrative used to refer to the 'Big Story' or 'organising principle' of a country or religious movement but nowadays this applies to large corporations, especially multinationals by sheer virtue of their size. It also shows how the postmodern world is blurring boundaries as large corporates of today have some characteristics of religions and feudal kingdoms.
A way in which identity is expressed (created?) is through stories that underpin the Grand Narrative. The big stories become especially powerful because they are often retold and referred to in the media (including on sites like this one). Examples of Grand Narrative here include works by President Nelson Mandela, President Thabo Mbeki, and the African writer Ben Okri.
Grand Narrative is vitally important. In the absence of a good guiding story, when the narrative collapses, people become become capable of anything. One way of seeing a recession, for example, is to ask yourself who is controlling the "big story" and what that story might be?
Equally important are the stories told by multinational companies and organisations that make people want to queue to buy the latest iPod, take Prozac, listen to music or even go to war. The Grand Narrative seeks to create a collective identity for an organisation or community - a way in which shared values are expressed.
In multinationals.and larger organisations identity is expressed in a statement of mission, vision, values, purpose and measures and is told in stories that underline certain key organisational values and aspects of the organisational dynamic such as customer-centricity, integrity, innovation amongst others. These stories are generally told by those in leadership and positions of influence. Particularly good stories in this genre create a sense of meaning and history. This is our collective experience. Or is it? What do you think makes a story motivating? Are you living in a motivating story?
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