Telling Tales at Work

Abstract

This article explores the adaptive functions of storytelling in the workplace from an evolutionary perspective. Based on the analysis of ethnographic studies on hunter-gatherer and modern work organizations, this article claims that storytelling, as an adapted cognitive device, was selectively retained by natural and sexual selection, because of its survival and reproductive payoff. The narrative production through storytelling is a natural coping mechanism and has been functional in both old and new ways of working life under different ecological conditions. This article also highlights underlying adapted psychological mechanisms of storytelling and discusses some evolutionarily informed practical implications and pedagogical applications.