Tool : Storytelling 

 Title : Reinventing oneself through changing one ’s story 

 Challenge Volunteering as a mentor for disadvantaged immigrant teenagers , I was working with Ali ( not his   real name ) , a 21 - years - old son of Turkish immigrants . At our ﬁrst meeting , I asked him to tell me   his story . Ali told me that he failed to graduate from general secondary school multiple times and   that subsequently , after he ﬁnally did , all higher education institutions and companies rejected his   applications . The NGO I was working for had eventually helped him to get into vocational school   where he was now to be trained to become a social worker . The classes were to be starting in a   few weeks ahead . The story Ali told me was one of frustration and shame : Always surrounded by   much younger fellow students , he saw himself as a failure , not just in school , but also in life   generally . Moreover , he feared to fail again at the new school and lacked the conﬁdence to ever   succeed alone without help from others . But talking to him I could see that Ali was in fact an   aroused and smart person with a great sense of humor . The major challenge I was thus facing was   to change Ali ’s mind - set . More than to help him overcome his paralyzing frustration and to start his   studies more conﬁdently . Apart from just familiarizing him with some learning and organization   techniques , it seemed necessary to change his perspective and to keep him focused on his goals .   During our subsequent meetings , we went through what within the framework of this course   probably would be called the „ What is?“- and the „ What if?“-phase : We talked about problems that   existed in the past , weaknesses , strengths and the challenges lying ahead . We then moved on to   talking about his larger goals , ideas and the type of person he would ideally like to be . However ,   looking at all the things we discussed , Ali still did not believe in the possibility of being a more   successful student and of taking even the smallest bit of proud in what he did . He had not yet   found a convincing way to positively connect his vita with the new opportunities lying ahead of him . 

 Selection Broadly speaking , storytelling as a tool is used by organizations and leaders to create connections   between beliefs , attitudes and values in order to not only solve a speciﬁc problem , but also to   create a sense of purpose and cause at a deeper level . It usually helps to unite different people   and departments behind a larger goal or vision . At the same time , a good story can help to reduce   complexity by making ideas more accessible and relatable . While there are different kinds of   stories , a good story usually involves a number of basic elements , including a main character , a   speciﬁc challenge faced in a particular situation and in the end presents a way ahead by coping   successfully with the challenge . After listening to Ali ’s story and after I got to know him better during   the following meetings , I was sure that there was a much more positive version of his story .   Drawing on that idea of corporate storytelling at personal level , the priority for us thus became to   reinterpret his background and development from the very beginning , to match his past with his   future plans , and to work out a more motivating story in the end that he could tell himself and   others . 

 Application At ﬁrst , Ali was terriﬁed by the idea of writing a story as writing essays ranged among his most   hated activities in school . But it turned out he had two other talents : drawing and math . We thus   agreed to create a storyboard during the next sessions that would have the form of a cartoon - like   mathematical equation . In the ﬁrst session , we discussed the ﬁrst sequence in his life that seemed   relevant to him and we both took notes on the way . As he shared his story , I kept asking questions   and tried to highlight or expose positive aspects and successes . For instance , when he told me   that other kids in school laughed when he had to read out loud his improvised homework essays , I   countered that probably not many of them had worked 4 - 5 hours a school day in a newsstand and   in the beverage market of their fathers like he did , leaving them more time to care about their   essays . For the next session , Ali translated the notes into the ﬁrst cartoon . This ﬁrst cartoon , for   instance , showed a younger version of Ali balancing a pile of school books and running back and   forth between work and school , always losing one book on the way . We repeated this pattern for   ﬁve more sessions until we reached the present point in time , connecting the individual cartoons 

 with a huge plus sign . I then asked Ali to think about how his upcoming studies and what his job   thereafter would ideally look like and to draw the ﬁnal cartoon for another session . I also asked if it   was ok if I brought a good friend of mine to our next session who is by chance in town . In that next   session , I presented Ali to my friend as a clever person who has an exceptional story to tell . I then   asked Ali to show the cartoon he made and to tell his story . At ﬁrst , I could see how he initially   trembled with excitement but step by step he guided us through his cartoon getting more and more   conﬁdent . The story he told was totally different from the one I had heard during our ﬁrst meeting .   In short , it was a story of someone who had to work hard in addition to school , who had failed   several times to graduate but who also ﬁnally had found out who could help him out . Showing the   last cartoon , Ali explained that his dream was to ﬁnish higher education as the ﬁrst member of his   family and to get a job as a social worker where he could help other kids that fell behind in school .   My friend was impressed and asked him if he was excited to start classes next week . The answer   was a yes . 

 Insight When working with Ali , I did not know storytelling as a tool . It was during this course that I thought   that we actually used storytelling back then , even if unconsciously . The tool allowed us to attach a   different meaning to Ali ’s past and to connect it with a larger purpose to the opportunities of his   imminent studies . There are three key learnings for me when I link this practical experience with   the now acquired theoretical knowledge about storytelling and Design Thinking more broadly : First ,   storytelling is a very powerful tool also for individuals to change their perspective on themselves   and on their development . Second , storytelling facilitates collaboration : it is a very intuitive tool that   is fun to work with in pairs or small groups even if tough and emotional topics are at stake . And   third , storytelling is a highly ﬂexible tool can easily be combined both with other DT tools such as   visualization ( e.g. cartoons ) and with the individual strengths and capabilities of the people   applying the tool ( e.g. drawing talent ) . This makes not only the outcome of the tool more   accessible , but also the tool itself . At a broader level , Design Thinking for me seems to be a   structured and easily applicable tool not only for complex organizations . It can also be useful for   individuals that cope with complex decisions or that want to clarify confusing situations in everyday   life . 

 Approach Storytelling helped Ali to identify the cause and purpose of the challenge lying ahead of him . It also   helped him to ﬁnd some meaning in the failures of the past . The power of storytelling in this   speciﬁc case was that changing the story was much more than or not at all window dressing .   Instead , this approach helped to change the perspective for one moment and to construct a   different , more compelling story – a story one likes to tell about oneself . I think that in this sense ,   storytelling can be of use for many people and people working in organizations that sometimes   wonder : what am I / are we doing here and why ? The idea of telling one ’s own story now or at a   later point in time may help individuals to take better decisions in life and business by making these   decisions and their consequences more accessible and relatable . In a both private and business   context , storytelling may eventually push people to dare embarking on unconventional paths – for   the sake of innovation and for the sake of a good story to tell . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
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: Tool : Storytelling 

 Title : Reinventing oneself through changing one ’s story 

 Challenge Volunteering as a mentor for disadvantaged immigrant teenagers , I was working with Ali ( not his   real name ) , a 21 - years - old son of Turkish immigrants . At our ﬁrst meeting , I asked him to tell me   his story . Ali told me that he failed to graduate from general secondary school multiple times and   that subsequently , after he ﬁnally did , all higher education institutions and companies rejected his   applications . The NGO I was working for had eventually helped him to get into vocational school   where he was now to be trained to become a social worker . The classes were to be starting in a   few weeks ahead . The story Ali told me was one of frustration and shame : Always surrounded by   much younger fellow students , he saw himself as a failure , not just in school , but also in life   generally . Moreover , he feared to fail again at the new school and lacked the conﬁdence to ever   succeed alone without help from others . But talking to him I could see that Ali was in fact an   aroused and smart person with a great sense of humor . The major challenge I was thus facing was   to change Ali ’s mind - set . More than to help him overcome his paralyzing frustration and to start his   studies more conﬁdently . Apart from just familiarizing him with some learning and organization   techniques , it seemed necessary to change his perspective and to keep him focused on his goals .   During our subsequent meetings , we went through what within the framework of this course   probably would be called the „ What is?“- and the „ What if?“-phase : We talked about problems that   existed in the past , weaknesses , strengths and the challenges lying ahead . We then moved on to   talking about his larger goals , ideas and the type of person he would ideally like to be . However ,   looking at all the things we discussed , Ali still did not believe in the possibility of being a more   successful student and of taking even the smallest bit of proud in what he did . He had not yet   found a convincing way to positively connect his vita with the new opportunities lying ahead of him . 

 Selection Broadly speaking , storytelling as a tool is used by organizations and leaders to create connections   between beliefs , attitudes and values in order to not only solve a speciﬁc problem , but also to   create a sense of purpose and cause at a deeper level . It usually helps to unite different people   and departments behind a larger goal or vision . At the same time , a good story can help to reduce   complexity by making ideas more accessible and relatable . While there are different kinds of   stories , a good story usually involves a number of basic elements , including a main character , a   speciﬁc challenge faced in a particular situation and in the end presents a way ahead by coping   successfully with the challenge . After listening to Ali ’s story and after I got to know him better during   the following meetings , I was sure that there was a much more positive version of his story .   Drawing on that idea of corporate storytelling at personal level , the priority for us thus became to   reinterpret his background and development from the very beginning , to match his past with his   future plans , and to work out a more motivating story in the end that he could tell himself and   others . 

 Application At ﬁrst , Ali was terriﬁed by the idea of writing a story as writing essays ranged among his most   hated activities in school . But it turned out he had two other talents : drawing and math . We thus   agreed to create a storyboard during the next sessions that would have the form of a cartoon - like   mathematical equation . In the ﬁrst session , we discussed the ﬁrst sequence in his life that seemed   relevant to him and we both took notes on the way . As he shared his story , I kept asking questions   and tried to highlight or expose positive aspects and successes . For instance , when he told me   that other kids in school laughed when he had to read out loud his improvised homework essays , I   countered that probably not many of them had worked 4 - 5 hours a school day in a newsstand and   in the beverage market of their fathers like he did , leaving them more time to care about their   essays . For the next session , Ali translated the notes into the ﬁrst cartoon . This ﬁrst cartoon , for   instance , showed a younger version of Ali balancing a pile of school books and running back and   forth between work and school , always losing one book on the way . We repeated this pattern for   ﬁve more sessions until we reached the present point in time , connecting the individual cartoons 

 with a huge plus sign . I then asked Ali to think about how his upcoming studies and what his job   thereafter would ideally look like and to draw the ﬁnal cartoon for another session . I also asked if it   was ok if I brought a good friend of mine to our next session who is by chance in town . In that next   session , I presented Ali to my friend as a clever person who has an exceptional story to tell . I then   asked Ali to show the cartoon he made and to tell his story . At ﬁrst , I could see how he initially   trembled with excitement but step by step he guided us through his cartoon getting more and more   conﬁdent . The story he told was totally different from the one I had heard during our ﬁrst meeting .   In short , it was a story of someone who had to work hard in addition to school , who had failed   several times to graduate but who also ﬁnally had found out who could help him out . Showing the   last cartoon , Ali explained that his dream was to ﬁnish higher education as the ﬁrst member of his   family and to get a job as a social worker where he could help other kids that fell behind in school .   My friend was impressed and asked him if he was excited to start classes next week . The answer   was a yes . 

 Insight When working with Ali , I did not know storytelling as a tool . It was during this course that I thought   that we actually used storytelling back then , even if unconsciously . The tool allowed us to attach a   different meaning to Ali ’s past and to connect it with a larger purpose to the opportunities of his   imminent studies . There are three key learnings for me when I link this practical experience with   the now acquired theoretical knowledge about storytelling and Design Thinking more broadly : First ,   storytelling is a very powerful tool also for individuals to change their perspective on themselves   and on their development . Second , storytelling facilitates collaboration : it is a very intuitive tool that   is fun to work with in pairs or small groups even if tough and emotional topics are at stake . And   third , storytelling is a highly ﬂexible tool can easily be combined both with other DT tools such as   visualization ( e.g. cartoons ) and with the individual strengths and capabilities of the people   applying the tool ( e.g. drawing talent ) . This makes not only the outcome of the tool more   accessible , but also the tool itself . At a broader level , Design Thinking for me seems to be a   structured and easily applicable tool not only for complex organizations . It can also be useful for   individuals that cope with complex decisions or that want to clarify confusing situations in everyday   life . 

 Approach Storytelling helped Ali to identify the cause and purpose of the challenge lying ahead of him . It also   helped him to ﬁnd some meaning in the failures of the past . The power of storytelling in this   speciﬁc case was that changing the story was much more than or not at all window dressing .   Instead , this approach helped to change the perspective for one moment and to construct a   different , more compelling story – a story one likes to tell about oneself . I think that in this sense ,   storytelling can be of use for many people and people working in organizations that sometimes   wonder : what am I / are we doing here and why ? The idea of telling one ’s own story now or at a   later point in time may help individuals to take better decisions in life and business by making these   decisions and their consequences more accessible and relatable . In a both private and business   context , storytelling may eventually push people to dare embarking on unconventional paths – for   the sake of innovation and for the sake of a good story to tell .
### Output: 