Reflection – Storytelling 

 Challenge & Selection 

 We innately like to tell and listen to stories . Our minds have evolved to decipher the patterns in stories .   They can be used to create signals amidst the din . It can be used to convey complex concepts   understandable to even an ordinary mind in both intellectually and emotionally engaging manner .   Science explains that stories activate the auditory cortex of the human brain stimulating the frontal and   parietal cortices and thus makes us engaged . So storytelling would serve as an ideal tool in training . 

 To train the new recruits who do technical work such as programming , has always been a challenge in an   Information Technology company . During the induction programme , the freshmen became bored and   disengaged quite easily and that too within the first few days . Though they were explained the do ’s and   don’ts , they repeated the same mistakes that their seniors did after their training . The mistakes were   cyclical . Reading manuals about avoiding mistakes was boring to them as it did not connect to them and   it was also disengaging , therefore they reached their atrophy faster than expected . 

 It was decided to experiment with storytelling as a tool to explain the mistakes already committed by   employees who had surpassed this stage . It was believed this tool would make the freshman engaged ,   involved , stay focused and learn from others experience . 

 Application 

 The training sessions to these freshmen were broken down to storytelling sessions . Jennifer Aaker , a   Marketing Professor from Stanford opines that stories are 22 times more memorable than mere   statement of facts . 

 The mistakes already committed during programming by the more experienced employees in the   company were asked to share it through storytelling . Each employee made an account of some of the   common mistakes they committed while working on their projects . 

 After the induction programme , each freshman was given a sample project in a stimulated training zone .   After listening to practically all the stories of the experienced employees , they were asked to commit a   new mistake , which they had not heard in their storytelling sessions .   The task was to commit a new   mistake which should not be a repetition from the stories already told . 

 The freshmen were assigned a real time project and got their jobs confirmed only when they committed   a new mistake while programming , which was not told to them as a story during their training sessions .   When they committed a new mistake it was documented in the ‘ Book of Blunders ’ which was a   complete collection of the stories about the mistakes committed thus far in the company .    Every story   was listened with rapt attention since one could not afford to repeat the same . A freshman in fact   became exuberant every time when he / she committed a new mistake because he /she got the job   confirmation . Rarely , we celebrate our mistakes though we learn from them . 

 Insight and Approach 

 Employees came out of their shell and they shed their shyness in recounting their stories , which they   reckon were valuable lessons now , for themselves and for others . This tool makes it easy for them to   open up , especially when they understand the underlying purpose . Storytelling connects . It also serves   as reminders to themselves of the mistakes they did lest they repeat them again . The documentation of   the stories is now a treasure trove for the company . The anthology of mistakes christened as the ‘ Book   of Blunders ’ with the contents presented in storyboard style of presentation and with visualization tools ,   will be useful down the years in training and can also be published for the larger good of the society . 

 This practice became so engaging that every department is likely to introduce the storytelling tool to   herald the mistakes an employee committed so that the others learn from his / her experience .   The   Marketing Department could conduct this by making their salesmen recount the sales deals they failed   to close , the lessons from failed promotions , etc . The research department could enumerate their   failures in the product development stages , since someone need not repeat it all over again wasting   resources or some freshmen could even have a solution to the glitch due to which the development of   the product stopped thus reviving the product and commercializing it . Wise people learn from others   mistakes , fools from their own ! 

 Saeed Afridi 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: Saeed Afridi
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Reflection – Storytelling 

 Challenge & Selection 

 We innately like to tell and listen to stories . Our minds have evolved to decipher the patterns in stories .   They can be used to create signals amidst the din . It can be used to convey complex concepts   understandable to even an ordinary mind in both intellectually and emotionally engaging manner .   Science explains that stories activate the auditory cortex of the human brain stimulating the frontal and   parietal cortices and thus makes us engaged . So storytelling would serve as an ideal tool in training . 

 To train the new recruits who do technical work such as programming , has always been a challenge in an   Information Technology company . During the induction programme , the freshmen became bored and   disengaged quite easily and that too within the first few days . Though they were explained the do ’s and   don’ts , they repeated the same mistakes that their seniors did after their training . The mistakes were   cyclical . Reading manuals about avoiding mistakes was boring to them as it did not connect to them and   it was also disengaging , therefore they reached their atrophy faster than expected . 

 It was decided to experiment with storytelling as a tool to explain the mistakes already committed by   employees who had surpassed this stage . It was believed this tool would make the freshman engaged ,   involved , stay focused and learn from others experience . 

 Application 

 The training sessions to these freshmen were broken down to storytelling sessions . Jennifer Aaker , a   Marketing Professor from Stanford opines that stories are 22 times more memorable than mere   statement of facts . 

 The mistakes already committed during programming by the more experienced employees in the   company were asked to share it through storytelling . Each employee made an account of some of the   common mistakes they committed while working on their projects . 

 After the induction programme , each freshman was given a sample project in a stimulated training zone .   After listening to practically all the stories of the experienced employees , they were asked to commit a   new mistake , which they had not heard in their storytelling sessions .   The task was to commit a new   mistake which should not be a repetition from the stories already told . 

 The freshmen were assigned a real time project and got their jobs confirmed only when they committed   a new mistake while programming , which was not told to them as a story during their training sessions .   When they committed a new mistake it was documented in the ‘ Book of Blunders ’ which was a   complete collection of the stories about the mistakes committed thus far in the company .    Every story   was listened with rapt attention since one could not afford to repeat the same . A freshman in fact   became exuberant every time when he / she committed a new mistake because he /she got the job   confirmation . Rarely , we celebrate our mistakes though we learn from them . 

 Insight and Approach 

 Employees came out of their shell and they shed their shyness in recounting their stories , which they   reckon were valuable lessons now , for themselves and for others . This tool makes it easy for them to   open up , especially when they understand the underlying purpose . Storytelling connects . It also serves   as reminders to themselves of the mistakes they did lest they repeat them again . The documentation of   the stories is now a treasure trove for the company . The anthology of mistakes christened as the ‘ Book   of Blunders ’ with the contents presented in storyboard style of presentation and with visualization tools ,   will be useful down the years in training and can also be published for the larger good of the society . 

 This practice became so engaging that every department is likely to introduce the storytelling tool to   herald the mistakes an employee committed so that the others learn from his / her experience .   The   Marketing Department could conduct this by making their salesmen recount the sales deals they failed   to close , the lessons from failed promotions , etc . The research department could enumerate their   failures in the product development stages , since someone need not repeat it all over again wasting   resources or some freshmen could even have a solution to the glitch due to which the development of   the product stopped thus reviving the product and commercializing it . Wise people learn from others   mistakes , fools from their own ! 

 Saeed Afridi
### Output: 