From a workshop I facilitated at Vizthink 2009 on why stories are more effective than fact based methods at communicating complex ideas and inspiring people to want to change.
24. A health worker in Zambia, was
struggling to find a solution for treating
malaria. In this tiny and remote rural
town, the health worker logged on to
the Web site of the U.S.’s Center for
Disease Control and Prevention and
got an answer. [The World Bank]
doesn’t have its know-how and
expertise organized so that someone
like the health worker in Zambia can
have access to it.
But just imagine
if it did
Stephen Denning
25. What I’ll cover
Three brain theory
Some basics of storytelling
The art of possibility
27. Draw your life
2 wants
(hopes for
future)
4 you
(reactions to idea
of engaging
people) current
people 1 reality
3(important
(parts that
to your
stand out)
life)
30. the assumptions being
Our model of the world is reality
We are aware of what we do
We know why we do what we do
We remember things as they really
happened
46. When we leap to a decision or have a
hunch, our unconscious is... sifting
through the situation in front of us,
throwing out all that is irrelevant while we
zero in on what really matters.
Malcom Gladwell, Blink
55. They come to act
like rewards, and
salad of the rest of the
perfectly brain adapts itself
grilled to predict and
woodsy-
woodsy- acquire them… It’s
flavored a proxy for the
calamari reward to come.
Read Montague
Why Choose This Book?
61. I really like Innovate
Corporation. It’s
been an innovative
leader for a long
time. But I’m
coming under
increasing pressure
and have to make
trade-offs.
62. Customers value
leadership and
innovation.
Customers are
feeling intense
cost pressure.
63. Customers will
stick with us if we
continue to
innovate and lead.
Customers will
migrate away
from us due to
cost concerns
and our
pricing.
64. Innovation and
leadership are the
most critical
avenues to pursue.
We’ve got to
get our costs
down so we
can be price
competitive.
65. I really like Innovate
Corporation. It’s
been an innovative
leader for a long
time. But I’m
coming under
increasing pressure
and have to make
trade-offs.
76. Too often communicating like this
• 981 people died in alcohol-related crashes in 2000
• Out of 420 pedestrian fatalities, 38 per cent of those
tested for alcohol had been drinking, and most of
these had BACs over 0.08.
• Almost nine out of every 10 people killed in alcohol-
related collisions (87.4 per cent) were in or on the
drinking driver's vehicle (i.e. drivers/operators or
passengers).
• Almost nine out of every 10 drivers killed in alcohol-
related collisions (87.5 per cent) were male.
• Over half (56 per cent) of the drivers killed in single-
vehicle crashes tested positive for alcohol, compared
to only 20 per cent of those killed in multiple-vehicle
crashes.
77. Expecting listeners to accept the facts
Everyone knows the
You pulled those
media exaggerates
numbers out of
thin air
That’s actually
not a lot
84. We are all capable of believing things which we
know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally
twisting
proved wrong, impudently
the facts so as to show that we
were right. Intellectually, it is possible to carry on
this process for an indefinite time: the only
check on it is that sooner or later a false belief
bumps up against solid reality, usually on a
battlefield.
George Orwell
85. Facts are, quot;like
fish in the
Ocean,quot; that we
may only happen
to catch a few,
only an
indication of
what is below
the surface.
E. H. Carr
What is History?
87. Faced with the choice between changing
one's mind and proving there's no need
to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the
proof.
John Kenneth Galbraith
98. Who needs to change?
Map their current ecosystem
Wants
Motivators
Influencers
Environment/context
Tell a story of why they don’t want to
change from their perspective
107. Draw a timeline of
Key dates
•
Incidents
•
Experiences that shaped you
•
Trials and turning points that tested you
•
Stories of childhood, family, school, loves
•
Development of political views
•
108. OMG new mom,
new city, no job China
nephew
not a boss from acquired trip
1962
arrives
nurse hell (again)
Joan
farm
garden
bound
new boss
passed over Sasha not a key Disney new
prof from (again)
school patrol arrives employee pitch boss
hell
109. six story types
Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins, Annette Simmons
113. who I am
break through the worst case stories they tell
themselves about you
with a story that builds faith in you
114. Mine your timeline for stories
HavenTree
OMG pregnant,
new city, no job
nephew
not a boss from acquired again
1962
arrives
nurse hell
Joan
farm
garden
bound
boss laid
passed over Sasha Disney
prof from not a key China off
school patrol arrives pitch
hell employee trip
115. why I am here
exposes what’s in it for you
or people tend to make up ‘rat’ reasons
116. teaching
combine what with how
less about what you want than how you want it done
“What would <insert person here> do?”
117. vision
what’s in it for them
so they can imagine the payoff in the future
118. values in action
about doing the right thing
values create culture and culture creates values
119. I know what you’re thinking
we don’t come into a room with open minds, we already
have a narrative in our head: “this is bullshit”
brings an issue into the open and reframes it
“I felt exactly the way you feel now”
120. good stories
create an experience in
images that evokes an
emotional response
122. To provide food for
her family, Sufiya
worked all day in her
muddy yard making
bamboo stools.Yet
somehow her hard
work was unable to
life her family out of
Why?
poverty.
curiosity
Muhammad Yunus
pioneer of the microcredit
movement
132. People don't believe what you
tell them
They rarely believe what you show them
They often believe what their friends tell them
They always believe what they tell themselves
What leaders do: they give people stories
they can tell themselves
Stories about the future and about
change
Seth Godin,Tribes
150. All of us construct narratives about
ourselves – where we’ve come from,
where we’re going. The kinds of stories
we tell make an enormous difference in
how well we cope with change.
Hermina Ibarra and Kent Lineback,What’s Your Story?
154. the art of
possibility
The most important story you will ever tell
author your own
about yourself is the story you tell to yourself.
hero’s journey
155. your
To be authentic is literally to be
own author... to discover your native
energies and desires, and then find your
way of acting on them.
Warren Bennis, An Invented Life
179. Are your beliefs and
values helping take
your story where you
Beliefs and values are not inherited or coded in
the genes. They are assumptions about life.
want to go?
188. Expand your WANTS into a
vision of your future reality
• Keywords of desired future or change you
want to implement
• Elements
• Language
• Results
• Influencers
194. you to do things, you're got to
To get
create a purpose and a story so
compelling that you are moved to make
those corrections in your life, and make
them for good.
Geoffrey M. Bellman
Getting Things Done When You Are Not in Charge