DENT© argues that when individuals have sight of the goal (clear purpose), they become abler in planning, devising strategies and taking action to progress.
Narratives and stories play an important role in, firstly, organising events in the individual’s head (called rehearsal) and, secondly, in communicating clearly to all around them what it is they think, feel, or want to express. This is termed engagement, and is the means of co-joining efforts. To that end DENT© distinguishes between stories and narratives for communicating.
A story has the power to engage, entertain, convey information about our life, and to communicate our experiences, as well as to pass on wisdom in a compelling and useful way. Stories are a powerful and compelling way to transfer information. Stories are second only to experience in gathering the building blocks of knowledge.
In DENT©, a narrative is the way in which we give meaning to our life experiences, turning them into knowledge which is useful in moving us towards our purpose. Narratives do this because they take elements, or whole stories, reshuffle the stories, and give prominence to parts of them in order to communicate some underlying premise.
The purpose behind a narrative, is to engage in the social aspect of forming meaning, sharing insights advancing knowledge. It is part of the Art of Adeption.
