As a Folklorist working in businesses and communities, I was pleased to find the New Directions in Folklore site and read its Manifesto, along with postings in reaction to it. Here is my response:

I agree with several points in the Manifesto and also appreciate the points Debora Kodish made. Folklore is in a state of crisis. For many years, I have not felt that developments in the field were relevant to the Folklore work I was doing and so had little interest in it. And yet I am a Folklorist! I've spent many years working with businesses, local governments and communities in the areas of creativity, leadership, organizational culture and change, teamwork, and communication. My knowledge, skills and background as a Folklorist make me incredibly suited to this work. Why? Because all of my work revolves around improving communities and work life using the dynamics of cultural transmission, narratives, socio-linguistics, communication theory, and change - all things I learned in my training as a Folklorist.

The shame, however, is how many years it took me to be able to translate any of my knowledge and skills into a language that others could understand, appreciate and desire. I agree whole-heartedly with Debora Kodish that the biggest challenge Folklorists face is making our work significant, relevant and impactful. In other words, we've done a very poor job of communicating to people why we do what we do and that it has any significance to their lives, and what the benefits and results of our work can be.

Anthropologists, however, have been great in this respect and have jobs all over the place. Do you know that many Fortune 500 companies have anthropologists as permanent staff? Yet I believe Folklorists have greater talent and relevance for businesses than Anthropologists do. So why don't we have those jobs? Why aren't Folklorists the experts on culture in America? It's because we've done a lousy job of making ourselves significant, relevant and meaningful to mainstream life.

I disagree with Yarbrough in the Manifesto that the definition of Folklore is a stumbling block. Definitions are not a problem. The problem is how to tell people that our work produces meaningful results for people, organizations and communities. We must articulate how our work makes a difference in the lives of others, how it makes the world a better place to live. And I am not talking about the study of survivals. I am talking about specific business applications. If a leader of a Fortune 500 company needs to change key components of the organization's culture, what can he/she learn and use from the field of Folklore? (Hint - think values and knowledge transmission, group identity, creative expressions, the power of storytelling, rituals and celebrations, etc.).

A whole new and exciting enterprise in organizations these days is Knowledge Management. The basic premise is: our workers today are knowledge workers. How do we understand the ways knowledge is shared among people and make sure it is preserved? What technology can we use to help us? What are the dynamics of oral transmission that we need to pay attention to? For more information, go the www.brint.com for a primer on knowledge management. And read the article "Balancing Act: How to Capture Knowledge Without Killing It" in Harvard Business Review, May-June 2000 pgs. 73-80. It's a basic ethnography and viable solution to a very thorny dilemma. It's also a perfect place for Folklorists to do work. Why let Anthropologists have all the fun?

How about the whole new field of digital storytelling? What implications does this have for our work as Folklorists and how can we help to guide people in this medium? How can we understand and use these recent developments in our work to improve society? What do we need to caution people about? You get my drift . . .

I also disagree with this idea of a false split between the study of traditional and contemporary culture. Understanding both is necessary for a modern Folklorist to work effectively in any organization or community. If anything, we must change our language from 'studying' something to producing meaningful results and benefits. We can study a culture all we want but we need to DO something with our information. Studying a group/culture/organization is always a key activity for me in my work, but it is only the beginning, not the end. I always have to show how any of the knowledge I gain my studying something is going to make a difference: "Because of XYZ, it is producing problems in ABC. As a result, I recommend 1,2,3."

I've sent Camille a copy of my bio/resume. If she'd like to post it, that would be OK by me and then everyone could get an idea of the type of work I've been doing. Other people should post their bios/resumes also, so we can see what new directions other Folklorists have been up to. This could be a great way to start sharing knowledge. I'd welcome hearing from Debora Kodish how she has translated Folklore into significant, relevant and impactful work. Why not have a conference about this whole topic?

We need to use Folklore to guide people. As a result, we must be bold and suggest action/make recommendations for how to improve people's lives, work, government and communities. For too long we've been stuck in obscurity, museum work and universities. It is time for a change. Let's get going.

I look forward to questions, feedback and conversations -

Karen Dietz
kdietz@polaris-associates.com

Newfolk :: Manifesto :: Responses: Amanda Banks : Bill Ellis : Debora Kodish : Karen Dietz