Context is Everything: Why Stories at Work Can Make or Break Progress

Part Two: Curating Context — Tools to Shift Workplace Culture and Create New Possibilities

Introduction

In Part One, we explored how workplace patterns and stories shape how we understand people and problems. We learned that context isn’t just background noise—it’s the container in which meaning is made. Now, we turn to the most important part: how we can begin to shift that context to create better outcomes for individuals and teams.

The Science (Continued)

CMM reminds us that interpretation is not neutral. We are constantly making choices about what we believe others mean—and those choices shape what happens next. This is not just technical; it's moral and political. Culture and leadership are constructed in the space between words and interpretations.

Key Findings

3. Meaning is Made Through Choice
When someone speaks, we interpret what they mean. That interpretation is our choice, even when it doesn’t feel like one.
Key idea: How we choose to interpret a message shapes what happens next. It’s not just a technical move—it’s a moral and political one. If a leader hears feedback as defiance rather than concern, their reaction will shut things down rather than open them up. We are always making choices, even when we pretend, we are just reacting.

4. Actions and Context Shape Each Other
It’s not a one-way street. Context influences how we act—and our actions can shift context too. The bigger picture (like organisational culture) shapes how we talk and behave—but the way we communicate can also shift the bigger picture over time.

• Contextual force (top-down): The organisation’s culture or a manager’s relationship style shapes how people communicate.
• Implicative force (bottom-up): A new kind of conversation or interpretation can gradually change team dynamics or even the wider culture.

Example: If a manager chooses to hear a staff member’s “I’m struggling” not as failure but as a signal to collaborate, and consistently responds with curiosity and support, over time, this could shift a culture of blame into one of psychological safety. Also, a team that starts giving more honest feedback, for instance, can influence how “openness” is valued and practiced across the organisation.

What This Means: Application of the Concept
Let’s bring this to life with a common example:
Imagine an employee keeps missing deadlines.
The manager tells a story: “She’s disorganised and careless.”

But if we explore the context, a more complex picture might emerge:

• Cultural context: There’s an unspoken rule that asking for help is seen as weakness.
• Relational context: The employee doesn’t feel safe enough to be honest about workload.
• Identity context: She sees herself as someone who must always cope alone.
• Episode: She’s overloaded but says “It’s fine” in the check-in.

The manager hears “It’s fine” and believes the story: “She just doesn’t care.” But that interpretation isn’t the only option—it’s a choice.

What if, instead, the manager interpreted it as: “She’s trying to cope but needs support.” That small interpretive shift might open the door to a different kind of conversation. And if this happens enough times, it might even shift the culture to one where support-seeking is normalised.

Understanding context like this helps leaders, HR professionals, and teams respond with more insight. It invites us to see complaints not just as grumbles but as clues to larger patterns. It reminds us that what seems like resistance might actually be a request for something different.

The biggest leadership shift here is from being a fixer of surface problems to being a curator of context.

New Insights and Tools

1. Context Mapping Tool
If you’re an HR leader, coach, or consultant, your job is not just to fix problems—but to ask better questions. Try this in your next tricky conversation:

• What’s the episode? (What’s happening now?)
• What’s the relational context? (What’s the power dynamic?)
• What’s the identity context? (How do people see themselves?)
• What’s the cultural context? (What norms are at play?)

Ask: How might these layers shape how people speak or stay silent?

2. Inclusion Through Story Audit
Dominant stories can marginalise minority voices—especially if they position people as “troublemakers,” “not a culture fit,” or “too sensitive.”

• Audit the stories told about different groups.
• Whose stories get airtime?
• What language is used? (e.g., “resilient” vs. “difficult”)
• Then ask: What alternative stories could be invited? Who needs to be heard differently?

3. Build Feedback Loops
People rarely offer their true stories without trust or space. Leaders can intentionally create feedback systems that surface hidden stories:

• Use anonymous pulse surveys with open-text.
• Introduce “silent voices” boards where unseen perspectives are elevated.
• In team reviews, ask: What’s the story we’re telling ourselves—and is it helping or harming us?

A Quote to Reflect On
"Change the story and you change the context. Change the context, and you change what’s possible." — Anonymous (widely quoted)

A Question to Reflect On
​What new story would need to be true for your team to thrive—and what context would make it possible?
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Further Reading

• Bushe, G. R. (2010). Clear Leadership
• Gergen, K. J. (2009). Relational Being
• Pearce, W. B., & Cronen, V. E. (1980). Communication, Action, and Meaning

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