Comments

My friends, Trevor and Dave, like myself, are very much into storytelling as a key tool for teaching and coaching. I can't wait to see if/how they weigh in on this one. And to be honest with you, Tom, I've always found the examples and anecdotes you share to be the "guts" of your presentations. You could pound the podium, snarl, growl, and stomp your feet all day while uttering words like "innovation, creativity, customer service..." but nobody would "get it" the way we/they do when you share the excellent examples you work so hard to dig up (and turn into yet more useful PowerPoint slides.) The story is everything.

Thanks for this one, too.

Posted by Dan Gunter at September 10, 2009 12:13 PM

Hi Dan – I’m a fully signed up member of "Story Tellers R Us"

I suggested years ago that Business Schools should have on their portfolio a new qualification – The “MST” – Masters in Story Telling.

As you know Dan one chapter in my book is entitled “The Power of Story Telling.” It has been reproduced as an article on a couple of websites and always gets loads of hits.

Story telling is one of the most under used and under rated natural assets in the tool box of any manager and it is such a simple skill. Most of us were lucky enough as kids to be told stories by our parents or grandparents or both.

Why are we therefore surprised when it works so well in adult life be it business, war or life generally?

One intriguing (and to me anyway) sad reflection ……

We all know it is “story telling” – thanks Tom for calling it what it is. When management consultants get hold of it then it suddenly becomes … “The Use of Narrative” ….. What a load of cobblers (please forgive English slang) … It is not “The Use of Narrative” … IT IS STORY TELLING.

Why do management people have to make stuff complicated with such crap, cold and clinical language?

Posted by Trevor Gay at September 10, 2009 2:42 PM

Long after our eyes glaze over after the third spreadsheet, the storyteller still has our attention. We want to hear the ending! DJ DePree, part of the founding family at Herman Miller, told a wonderful story, called the Millwright story, about paying his respects to the millwright's widow. He found out that the millwright was also an accomplished poet. DJ says that was the day he realized that people were much more than labor, and it is still a foundational story in the strong people foundation that keeps Herman Miller on the best places to work list. Funny thing is, when you ask people to tell you the story, you'll get a ton of variations, but always the same message. Jim Casey, the founder of United Parcel Service bound small books of stories that we managers always had on hand. I tell people I teach leadership to that learning to be a great storyteller, and collecting great stories, is magic for leaders!

Posted by Mike Neiss at September 10, 2009 8:44 PM

Tom

There are many people manufacturing stories about the economy, Obama, Obama himself, health-care, wars, etc, etc, etc. The key word in your post is "manufacturing" from my perspective. I'm not sure what I can trust anymore in the stories I hear and the narratives I read.

There is another story out there that isn't being told or manufactured. Many companies don't care what your story is and they merely want you to produce revenue at reasonable margins. Many sales reps are being hired on commission only and there is no long term commitment on either side of a transaction. Several larger companies are hiring part-time positions to dodge bullets with full-time benefit costs.

The good news-----prices, in general, are getting cheaper overall in the marketplace, at least in the States. Have you bought a computer lately?

The bad news------people make less money and spend less, overall revenue is down and margins remain the same or decrease in light of competition or managing operating costs.

I've had the good fortune, or bad depending on perspective, working with several consultants in the past. The endless amounts of sticky notes and trying to define a problem...yipes, what a waste of time.

There is a huge difference between those that have served the front lines, managed the front lines, and then managed at the upper levels of an organization than the bullying, MBA toting, "story telling" jackasses of the past 2 decades.

I once managed a subordinate that was twice my age and had twice the experience. The very first thing he said to me was, "Come talk to me after you have some street smarts and put the books away." He became my mentor for several years...he utilized stories to relate to my experience and what I could anticipate over time.

Posted by The Joker at September 11, 2009 9:46 AM

Thanks Tom for your post on the the power of story.

In a couple of weeks we're launching a free all-in-one business planning & marketing system at www.storymanager.com

Storymanager uses the tools of story crafting to help budding entrepreneurs weave all the essential subplots of a superior business story. We advocate authenticity and honesty in business story crafting.

I'd love your thoughts on how to improve our process. We have a VERY ROUGH proof of concept online now but look for a public-ready beta release by Sept. 20th.

Thx!

Steve Sue, the story guy
Storymanager, Inc.

Posted by Steve Sue at September 11, 2009 6:18 PM

Stories told well, create pictures... a picture says a thousand words... hence, stories are an efficient, as well as effective, communication method.

At school some tutors were 'transactional teachers' and some were 'evangelist teachers'. Though I didn’t appreciate it at the time, the 'transactional teachers' were probably competent in their subject... the 'evangelists' were the ones who made learning interesting and enjoyable - part of their repertoire was usually the ability to 'make it real' by telling a story.

How many times do we attend courses and conferences when what we remember of the speaker is the anecdote and the story rather than the technical information they imparted in their half-hour of glory at the podium? In my experience it is more often the story telling and the anecdote that is remembered.

In healthcare, patients' and family carers' storytelling is one way of getting services to change. There is nothing as powerful as a patient’s story and I believe it is far more powerful than formal audits. Patients tend to 'say it as it really is' and patient stories are a relatively untapped lever for change. I've witnessed 'Damascus moments' when CEO's and other senior managers come face to face with patients and simply listen to their stories - the sad thing is not enough managers do it as a matter of course.

Posted by Trevor Gay at September 12, 2009 4:20 AM

Although I appreciate and teach the power of story, I believe Churchill's brilliance, in this example, was understanding the power of action. The world of business - with the help of Madison Ave. - has been inventing and telling stories for far too long. And customers have learned to tune them out. It's time for leaders to start taking tangible risks and action to truly help improve the world and people's lives.

Posted by Tom Asacker at September 12, 2009 8:50 AM

I forget what his name was, but the guy who started the whole WWII thing in Europe invented something he was real proud of - he called it the Big Lie.

Posted by zorro at September 12, 2009 9:21 PM

"Story" and "Soft"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O7PnvVgQvA

Posted by Plato at September 13, 2009 6:24 PM

My current fascination in business is Emotional and Factual engagement and how they work (or often don't work!) together - both customers and employee.

Stories are a great way of backing up the factual with emotional content.

I think part of the problem that some of the comments allude to is that businesses have started "marketing" stories. This tends to lead it becoming slick and sterile. It loses it's power of emotion engagement. I think we have all seen examples of this - typically they have the (now gastly) word "Solution" in there somewhere......

To me for a story to work as a story it has to have an emotional intensity that only a real person in a real situation can deliver.

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