Finding a space for story: sensemaking, stories and epistemic impasse

Abstract

Purpose The current study aims to explore the role of stories in organizational sensemaking processes. Rather than positioning stories as one among many different sensemaking mechanisms, it is argued that stories allow a particular kind of sensemaking that is inherently open‐ended, distinguishing it from theoretical and propositional explanations for organizational phenomena. Drawing on previous Foucaultian discussions of epistemes, the paper aims to introduce the notions of epistemic impasse and epistemic spillover, arguing that cross‐functional interaction can cause tensions between incompatible epistemic bases, and that stories can act as a mechanism to overcome such tensions. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative methodology is used to illustrate the above mechanism in an ethnographic, participant‐observer study of a university student‐support center. Findings The results show how storytelling led to an increasingly open and ultimately universalizing tendency with the center, thus demonstrating both the potentials and limits of using stories within organizations. Originality/value The current paper adds to the storytelling literature by showing how stories not only act as a sensemaking mechanism, but also reimagine the definition of sense in a way that makes it more polyvalent and open to multiple epistemic standpoints.

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