1: “Human communication has its own set of very unusual and counterintuitive rules.” Malcolm Gladwell tells us.
Exhibit one: If we want to inspire people into action, providing detailed scenarios doesn’t work.
Why? “Even if believable when disseminated, such scenarios quickly become discredited as the future unfolds in unexpected ways,” Stephen Denning writes in The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative.
1: “Organizations often seem immovable,” Stephen Denning writes in The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling.
The good news?
“They are not,” he notes.
So, how can we possibly move the immovable?
“With the right kind of story at the right time, they are stunningly vulnerable to a new idea,” he observes.
His book provides a guide to finding and telling the right story at the right time. His premise? The … continue reading
“Choose not to be harmed—and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed—and you haven’t been.” -Marcus Aurelius
1: The year was 1966. Rubin “Hurricane” Carter was a contender for the middleweight boxing title.
Then, he experienced a bewildering fall. At the height of his career, he was “wrongly accused of a horrific crime he did not commit: triple homicide. He went on trial, and a biased, bogus verdict followed: three life … continue reading
1: The year was 1992. Republican pollster Frank Luntz was running a focus group in Detroit to test television ads. Frank was looking at tactics to undermine support for Ross Perot, an Independent presidential candidate. Frank showed the first focus group a series of three ads: a biography about Ross Perot and his rise from poverty through entrepreneurship to becoming one of the world’s wealthiest people, then one of the candidate’s speeches, and finally, … continue reading
1: Yesterday, we looked at why we must tell a positive story with a happy ending to spark change.
But what if things are difficult right now? What if times are tough?
“Sometimes people tell me that there are no happy endings in their organization,” writes Stephen Denning in The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling. “Everything is terrible. It’s as if they work for the Doom Channel.”
So be … continue reading
1: As leaders, one of our most important responsibilities is communicating new, sometimes complex ideas and inspiring action to implement change.
What’s the best tool we have to accomplish this critical objective? We tell a “springboard story,” writes author Stephen Denning in The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative.
In past RiseWithDrew posts, we’ve looked at key elements of this specific type of … continue reading
1: What are the two most important words in the brief story below?
“In 2019 in Paris, the head partner of a law firm noticed that the staff of the IT department became markedly more productive when they arranged the work in self-organizing teams that worked in short cycles and delivered value to their clients at the end of each cycle.
“He then introduced the approach to the paralegal staff … continue reading
1: The year was 1984.
“Guy Laliberté, a former accordion player, acrobat and fire-eater in Montreal, looked at the existing circus industry and saw a losing proposition,” writes Stephen Denning in The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling.
Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey dominated the struggling circus industry, whose shows primarily attracted children. Expenses were high due to the cost of transporting and caring for the many animals. … continue reading
Author Priya Parker once attended the funeral of a close friend.
1: “The church was packed. Hundreds of family members, friends, and former colleagues gathered in a beautiful room to honor a man who had towered in his field and helped so many,” she recalls in The Art of Gathering. “Sadness hung in the air, and many of us were already crying.
“The minister got up and walked to … continue reading
