What is Re-Storying?
Re-Storying is a living, collaborative approach to navigating change—supporting people, communities, and organizations to see differently, relate differently, and take action together.
In moments when familiar structures and stories no longer hold, Re-Storying helps surface what is emerging and supports the ongoing work of bringing it into form.
When the Old Story No Longer Holds
We are living through a time when many of the stories that once guided our lives—about progress, leadership, growth, control—no longer fit the realities we are facing.
In these moments, the challenge is not simply to solve problems within the existing frame. It is to recognize that the frame itself is shifting.
Re-Storying supports people and systems to:
- notice the assumptions shaping their current reality
- make sense of disruption without collapsing into reactivity
- reconnect with what matters most
- move forward together, even when the path is not yet clear
It is about developing the capacity to work with story itself—consciously, relationally, and in real time.
The Three Movements of Re-Storying
Across contexts, Re-Storying unfolds through three interrelated movements. Rather than linear steps, these are ongoing, dynamic processes. Together, these movements form a continuous cycle—supporting systems to adapt, learn, and evolve over time.
Re-Enliven
Reconnecting with what is alive and calling now.
This movement restores connection—to purpose, to one another, and to the deeper sources of energy and meaning that sustain action. It often begins with listening, slowing down, and creating space for what has not yet been voiced.
Re-Patterning
Aligning values with practice.
Here, groups begin to translate what matters into shared principles, new ways of relating, and emerging patterns of collaboration. This is where learning becomes collective and visible.
Re-Structuring
Creating forms that support what is emerging
New roles, rhythms, agreements, practices, and structures take shape—allowing new ways of working to endure. What was once insight becomes embodied in how people organize and act together.
How Re-Storying Works
Each engagement is shaped by the unique people, place, and conditions.
Re-Storying is a way of working that adapts to context.
We begin by listening—deeply and across perspectives—helping systems recognize themselves more clearly.
From there, we support iterative cycles of reflection and action:
- Convening conversations that surface what matters
- Strengthening relationships and shared understanding
- Identifying patterns and possibilities
- Supporting the design of new structures and ways of working
Re-Storying takes place across many contexts, including:
- Communities navigating disaster and long-term recovery
- Organizations and institutions in transition
- Networks working across sectors and geographies
- Foundations exploring new approaches to resourcing and partnership
- Individuals at personal and leadership inflection points
In each case, the work is grounded in real conditions and lived experience.
What Re-Storying Makes Possible
A Different Way of Moving Through Change, Re-Storying strengthens the capacity to:
- See more clearly — recognizing patterns, assumptions, and emerging possibilities
- Relate more deeply — building trust, shared understanding, and collective agency
- Act with coherence — aligning purpose, relationships, and structure in practice
Rather than reacting to disruption or attempting to return to “normal,” people begin to participate more consciously in shaping what comes next.
Within the NewStories Ecosystem
Re-Storying is the core approach that connects all of NewStories’ work.
It is expressed through:
- Re-Storying Disaster — supporting communities through disruption
- Great Transition Stories & Illumination — making patterns visible across contexts
- Resourcing Flow Initiative — supporting new patterns of resource circulation
- Consulting & Facilitation — accompanying organizations and networks
- PRACTICES — sharing tools, stories, and learning
Together, these form a living ecosystem of practice, where learning flows between communities, organizations, and the wider field.
- Re-Story Yourself
Finding balance, joy and wholeness begins with recognizing the story we are each living in—and deciding whether or not that story is working for us. If it’s not, we need to change it.
Re-Storying begins with how we make sense of our own lives.
Each of us lives within stories shaped by experience—family, culture, education, and the environments we move through. These stories influence how we see what’s possible, how we respond to challenge, and how we relate to others.
At times of transition, we are invited to notice these stories more consciously.
Re-Storying yourself is the practice of:
- recognizing the patterns and assumptions shaping your experience
- reconnecting with what matters most
- choosing, over time, to live into stories that are more life-giving, coherent, and aligned
This is not a one-time shift, but an ongoing practice—one that strengthens clarity, resilience, and the ability to move through change with intention.
Through spaces like Great Transition Stories and other learning experiences, NewStories supports individuals in orienting within this larger moment of transition—connecting personal experience to wider patterns of change.
- Re-Story Your Organization
We know that organizational transformation happens by developing and deepening authentic relationships both within organizations and the communities they serve.
Organizations are living systems shaped by shared stories—about purpose, leadership, success, and how work gets done.
When those stories no longer fit, organizations often experience friction: misalignment, stalled momentum, or a growing gap between values and reality.
Re-Storying an organization supports a different path forward.
This work includes:
- surfacing the underlying narratives shaping the organization
- strengthening trust and shared understanding across people and roles
- clarifying purpose, values, and guiding principles
- evolving patterns of collaboration, decision-making, and leadership
- developing structures—roles, rhythms, agreements—that support aligned action
Rather than applying external solutions, organizations begin to generate their own ways of working—rooted in their context, relationships, and evolving purpose.
Through consulting, facilitation, and long-term accompaniment, NewStories works alongside organizations as they navigate this process in real time.
- Re-Story Your Community
NewStories has worked with communities around the world, at times when they are at breaking point, at others when they are pursuing a new opportunity.
In communities, Re-Storying becomes a collective practice.
Often this work begins in moments of disruption—disaster, breakdown, or significant change—but it also arises when communities are stepping toward new possibilities.
Re-Storying a community supports people to:
- build trust across difference
- surface what they truly care about
- develop shared direction grounded in lived experience
- take coordinated action in uncertain conditions
NewStories brings participatory approaches that center deep listening, relationship-building, and shared sense-making. This work is always co-created—shaped by the people, place, and conditions involved.
Through efforts like Re-Storying Disaster, Bioregional Collaboratories, and community-led processes, this approach strengthens the relational infrastructure that allows communities to navigate disruption without fragmenting—and to move forward with dignity and agency.
The Results Look Like...
While each context is unique, over time, Re-Storying leads to tangible shifts:
As Individuals
People often experience greater clarity about purpose and direction, a deeper capacity to navigate uncertainty without overwhelm, a stronger sense of connection to themselves, others, and the larger moment, and more intentional, aligned action.
As Communities
Communities begin to develop relationships that hold through disruption rather than fragmenting, shared direction that emerges from within the community itself, greater capacity for coordinated collective action, and forms of leadership that are more distributed, relational, and resilient.
As Organizations
Organizations develop stronger alignment between values, culture, and structure, more effective collaboration and decision-making, increased trust across teams and stakeholders, and a greater ability to adapt and evolve without losing coherence.