Storytelling for Disruptive Innovators & Breakthrough Leaders

Storytelling for Leaders
NICK SENECA JANKEL
@nickjankel

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All rights reserved.
Unleashing Breakthroughs In Leadership & Life
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@nickjankel
The Breakthrough Curriculum

A Story
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A Story
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NO!

Driving Change
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WANT TO CHANGE ANYTHING?
THEN YOU HAVE TO CHANGE PEOPLE!
THEN YOU MUST CHANGE THE PEOPLE!
BUT PEOPLE TEND NOT TO CHANGE THEIR VIEWS
QUICKLY OR EASILY - THEY PREFER THE
(ILLUSIONARY) SAFETY OF THE STATUS QUO
AND THE BIGGER THE IDEA, THE MORE THE
RESISTANCE!
But people tend not to change their habits and
beliefs quickly or easily.
They prefer the (mostly illusionary) safety of the
status quo.
The bigger the change, the more the likely
resistance.

Design For Survival
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Change triggers fear.
Activates stress response.
Rely on old habits, beliefs & rules to survive.

Change In The Brain
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Once the brain figures out a way of processing
information into a narrative that makes sense, it
resists change.
Beliefs strongly tied to values (emotions) are least
easy to change.
Facts & rational argument can actually reinforce
existing emotional beliefs - The Backfire Effect
Need to drive engagement / empathy

Leadership Is Change
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ALL CHANGE MUST BE LED BY
SOMEONE
People change when they are influenced,
empowered & inspired by leaders who
galvanize multiple groups across networks
towards the same vision

Engage
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When have you experienced a leader who has
successfully enrolled people in a powerful new vision?

“The problem… was faced and a solution found…
storytelling was the solution… of how to make…
wisdom understandable, transmissible, persuasive,
enforceable - in a word, of how to make it stick…
storytelling is something brains do, naturally and
implicitly.”
ANTONIO DAMASIO, NEUROSCIENTIST

Wired For Story
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Evolutionary advantage to plan for
future and learn from past

“Human minds yield helplessly to the
suction of story. No matter how hard
we concentrate, no matter how deep
we dig in our heels, we just can’t resist
the gravity of alternate worlds.”
JONATHAN GOTTSCHALL, THE STORYTELLING ANIMAL

HANDS: ACTIONS & HABITS
Behavioral economics &
behavioral neuropsychology
HEAD: IDEAS,
NARRATIVES &
BELIEFS
Cognitive sciences
Contemplative traditions
HEART: EMOTIONS &
FELT SENSE
Affective
neuropsychology
Wisdom
traditions
Mastering the Biodynamics of Breakthrough
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Breaking Through Self & System
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Breaking Through Self & System
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Behaviors /
habits

Beliefs /
thinking
Being /
emotions
Processes /
systems

Ideas / models
/ strategies
Culture /
purpose /
values

How Story Works
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Story captures
hearts and
reassures minds
to create
behavior
change

Aristotle’s Rhetoric
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Aristotle’s Rhetoric
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ETHOS
Trust & credibility
LOGOS
Logic & coherence
PATHOS
Emotions & connection

Story: The Impact
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CHAMBERMAIDS TOLD THEY DO
ENOUGH EXERCISE IN THEIR JOB TO
LOSE WEIGHT… LOSE WEIGHT

Story: The Impact
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REVENUES INCREASED BY 400
PERCENT WHEN FUNDRAISING CALL-
CENTER STAFF HEARD SHORT
STORIES FROM END-BENEFICIARIES
ABOUT HOW THE MONEY HAD MADE
A DIFFERENCE TO THEM

Story: The Impact
@nickjankel
$1.49 $197.50
SOURCE: SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS
ADD A STORY TO AN ITEM &
IT INCREASES ITS VALUE:
13000% ROI

“When you’re conversing with co-workers,
customers, or investors, the richness and
meaning of your story is what people really
buy. Everybody thinks it’s the return on
investment that you’re selling...but it’s really
the story about ROI that an investor takes
away.”
TOM DUREL
FORMER CIO, BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD
FORMER CEO, OCEANIA

The Rub
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Want to change your project? Your org? Your
life? Your world?
THEN YOU HAVE TO CHANGE THE
STORY!

We Are Natural Born Storytellers
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Our brains cannot deal with uncertainty so we
are compelled to make stories up about
everything.
We project meaning onto the world: We see it
as we want to see it, not how it is.
OUR STORIES EMPOWER OR LIMIT US

Meaning Makers
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Cancer patients who derive meaning
are happier
People in grief who make sense of their
loss experience less distress
Empowering stories reduce PTSD /
depression in 750 Vietnam Vets.

“Those who do not have power over
their story — the power to retell it,
rethink it, deconstruct it, joke about it,
and change it as times change - truly
are powerless, because they cannot
think new thoughts.”
SALMAN RUSHDIE

Engage
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What old story are you ready to give up?
What new story do you want to have instead?

“Leadership exists when people are no
longer victims of circumstances but
participate in creating new circumstances.
Ultimately, leadership is about creating new
realities.”
PETER SENGE, MIT

We Are Natural Born Storytellers
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Everyone can tell great stories!
BUT NOT NECESSARILY POWERFUL
STORIES THAT CHANGE HOW PEOPLE
THINK AND ACT FOR GOOD

“It turns out stories are a - if not the -
leadership answer of our time.”
TOM PETERS

Great Leaders Are Incredible Storytellers
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© 2007-2012 wecreate worldwide ltd.
The Breakthrough Value Pyramid
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DATA
Reality observed to understand
problem gives us information
BREAKTHROUGH
STRATEGY
Innovations turned into strategies
for delivery
BREAKTHROUGH
INNOVATION
Insight flexed creatively to break
through problem with an ideaBREAKTHROUGH
INSIGHT
Data interpreted in context of
purpose to open up insights
BREAKTHROUGH
STORY Strategy executed because
people are enrolled in story
PURPOSE
PROBLEM
Purpose focuses us on problems
that matter
RESULTS
INCREASING
VALUE & IMPACT
INCREASING
SALARY!

Stories: Special Cases
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BUSINESS PLAN
BUSINESS VISION
BUSINESS PURPOSE
BRAND
LEADERSHIP PURPOSE
PERSONAL BIO
CV / RESUME

The Leadership Challenge
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Engages people in a shared possibility
Opens up space for innovation & change
Explains why new story is better than old one
Locates people in ta new future
Inspires positive emotions and reduces fears
Grabs attention from stressed / busy people
Meets them where they are at and takes them higher
Provides a clear focus on how to change behavior and
where to contribute best
Package up our insights and ideas into a short,
compelling story that:

Design Or Default?
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Design Or Default?
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Your audience do not have time or inclination to
join the dots for us
In the absence of our narrative they will make
one up - and it is unlikely to work for us
There is always a narrative - but not necessarily
one by design

The Challenge For Innovators
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“Once we know something we ﬁnd it hard to
imagine what it is like not to know it.”
Chip & Dan Heath

Attention
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Core role of brain is to allocate attention.
Both cognitive choice & cortisol / stress focuses
attention.
Sensory distractions & emotional distractions
dissipate attention.
Attention is a resource that can be used up (need
rest / rejuvenation).
Meditation / nature walks / breaks replenish
attention.

Signal:Noise
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700-900% increase in cost of attention in last
20 years
We are bombarded with noise from other
teams, execs, providers, advertisers etc. with
competing narratives seeking attention
Signals lost amongst the noise
Old narrative tends to crush new one before it is
born
ATTENTION ECONOMY
Source: Harvard University

Empathy
@nickjankel
Modulated by oxytocin - increases connection
and trust (in group)
Altruism less effortful than selfishness - rats will
release other rates from cages without reward
Probably evolved to provide attention to young
Drives greater patient satisfaction, better clinical
outcomes, decreased physician burnout, lower
risk of malpractice suits, fewer errors
Negative emotions distort empathy

Story Structure
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SOLUTION
PROBLEM “In order to motivate a desire to
help others, a story must first
sustain attention – a scarce
resource in the brain – by
developing tension during the
narrative.”
“Start every presentation with a
human-scale story.”

The Narrative Arc
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Attention
Connection
Empathy+ =

The Storytelling Engine
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6
BREAK
THROUGH
Connection
Context
Conventions
Call to Action
Concrete Impact
Conviction
Concept
Creative Shift

The Hero’s Journey
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6
BREAK
THROUGH
Problem in the real
world
Hero called to
adventure - refuses and
leaves
Enters special word.
Meets helpers. Takes
tests
Problems solved
Returns to real world
with boon
Fights biggest enemy -
has hero integrated
learning?
Tries to return with the
boon - temptations
and more tests
Finds the boon.

Inﬂuence & Storytelling
SWITCH ON
ENGINES
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The Breakthrough Storytelling Engine
Elevator Pitch Engine
CONTENTS

BREAKTHROUGH ELEVATOR PITCH ENGINE
©2016 Switch On WorldWide
For use under license only
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www.switchonworldwide.com
* Headline problem / opportunity… the most shocking facts and figures… an emotive anecdote
about the pain / gain… a vision of the future… what is at stake etc.
(Connection*) . Unlike (competition) who offer (conventional
proposition) to (target audience) because they think
(assumptions) which results in (problems / fail), we have
realized that (breakthrough insights). So we offer (breakthrough
proposition) which uniquely offers (breakthrough design) and
therefore will create (breakthrough vision and impacts). To
support this we invite you to (call to action).
SO-0025
INFLUENCE & STORYTELLING

Storytelling For Leaders: 7 Tips & Tricks
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1. Match & Move Higher: Meet people where they are at and then
take them to an elevated place
2. Keep Connected: Always sacrifice the message to build a live
emotional connection
3. Paint A Picture: Drop in factoids, home truths, anecdotes,
vulnerabilities, surprises. Choose evocative analogies, metaphors,
imagery to frame words; Back or future cast to share a vision
4. Design The Response: What is a great result? What’s in it for them?
5. Invite Contribution: Ask questions (move to yes); Ask for input / a
show of hands; Ask to take first step now
6. Own your story (with whole body): Tell it so it moves you; Hold
your intention(s) in your body; Make eye contact; Smile!
7. Enjoy it and everyone else will: It’s a story not a sermon - the
audience is almost always rooting for you!

@nickjankel
Connect with us.
Challenge us.
Lead breakthroughs with us.
Nick Seneca Jankel
nick@switchonworldwide.com
Europe & Australasia
+44 (0) 333 011 3757
The Americas
+1 415 800 4310

Storytelling for Disruptive Innovators & Breakthrough Leaders

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