BCM313: Reflective Narrative Essay
Michael White (2009) draws on ideas of narrative practice concerning lived experiences to be able to identify a person’s professional values and further understand those values for future work. One approach of narrative practice is through the notion of the “absent but implicit” which makes sense of a situation through the distinctions made “between what is presented to us (privileged meaning) and what is ‘‘left out’’ (subjugated meaning) (Carey, Walther, and Russell, 2009).” By distinguishing between preferred and unpreferred experiences we may better understand ourselves in professional workplace settings. From this perspective, an experience I encountered while working at a cafe/bar in Scotland during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, helped me to understand how I like to be communicated with at work.
When I was 19, I briefly worked at a café/bar in Edinburgh, Scotland during an extremely busy time due to the festival. It was the first time I’d dealt with a different currency in a workplace setting, I wasn’t very familiar with how the notes looked, I only knew the colours. One day as soon I arrived the manager pulled me aside and told me I’d accepted a note the night before that looked very similar to a 10-pound note but was a Croatian Kuna that didn’t equate to a 10-pound note. She was quite harsh in her delivery, and I was overwhelmed and upset that I’d done the wrong thing. My manager was stern and threatened to take it to the boss if it wasn’t resolved. Her tone combined with the very busy café led me to be very nervous and upset. She told me to stay on the coffee machine and not to handle any payments with customers until we had time to resolve the issue. Following this, I went to the bathroom quickly to compose myself and then stuck to the coffee machine. Later, when it was less busy she pulled me aside and informed me I’d have to go to the bank to exchange the Croatian note and the rest would come out of my tips, I remembered I had a 10-pound note in my bag that I could replace it with, once my manager was notified of this she changed her tone and said that would be fine, she wasn’t going to have to send me to the boss. After this situation, I became extra careful when accepting payments and handling money, I didn’t make that mistake ever again.
Arthur Frank (2004) speaks about how in “moral moments” such as this, through our actions we reveal “the values we uphold”. By looking at the situation I can identify that I value not making mistakes in the workplace and have trouble with being reprimanded while on the clock. At that moment I was able to grin and bear it but was very distressed on the inside. Here we have the privileged meaning of my disruption at work, I know from this experience I don’t operate well with having to hide my emotions at work after getting in trouble, and more importantly that I don’t work well when spoken to in a disrespectful way then made to continue working while the issue remains unresolved.
By critically engaging with this situation through the absent but implicit approach I’ve identified the privileged meaning of the experience, that what triggered my emotions are being blindsided and spoken to disrespectfully (Carey, Walther, and Russell, 2009). Now to understand how my actions reveal my values more clearly, I can highlight the subjugated meaning of this situation by comparing it to a previous workplace situation where the opposite occurred (Carey, Walther, and Russell, 2009). In a café, I worked at in my hometown, my boss and I had a great relationship based on honesty and respect. When I made a mistake at that job, my boss would provide constructive criticism, demonstrating where I went wrong. As a result, I never became upset but effectively learnt from the mistake the first time and didn’t do it again, the key distinction here is in how a problem is communicated. By being put in a situation where there was an absence of respect and resolution my emotional boundaries were pushed, and I became overwhelmed, distressed, and unable to be emotionally present at work. When working in an environment where there is effective communication and most importantly respect, I’m able to take the criticism on board and perform to the best of my ability.
Through a narrative practice exploration of this disruption at work, I can identify how I react to certain situations and realise my values for future work. I’ve discovered that to feel secure and respected in the workforce I need to build strong work relationships with my superiors and co-workers to create an equal amount of respect in the work environment, therefore I can work comfortably and enthusiastically while protecting my personal well-being.
Reference List
Carey, M., Walther, S. and Russell, S., 2009. The Absent but Implicit: A Map to Support Therapeutic Enquiry. Family Process, 48 (3), pp. 319-331.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe. 2022. Home | Edinburgh Festival Fringe. [online] Available at: <https://www.edfringe.com/> [Accessed 28 August 2022].
Frank, AW 2004, The renewal of generosity: illness, medicine, and how to live., University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Dulwich Centre. n.d. Michael White archive. [online] Available at: <https://dulwichcentre.com.au/michael-white-archive/> [Accessed 28 August 2022].
Dulwich Centre. 2022. What is narrative therapy? [online] Available at: <https://dulwichcentre.com.au/what-is-narrative-therapy/> [Accessed 28 August 2022].
Hallie Rutter 
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