Shaun at Anecdote has launched a mini-experiment in the form ofStory Week. Each day, starting today, he'll be publishing a story and asking us to gauge the impact the story has on us. He's hoping the results will tell us something of what makes a story so powerful, and what stories move us. Mosey on over to the first installment here ... a story by the US Storyteller in Chief, Barack Obama.
I came across this little anecdote in and article in the latest edition of Strategy + Business. It illustrates how savvy leaders know how to use metaphors and symbols to get their point across effectively and strengthen company culture. David Ogilvy is the founder ofOgilvy & Mather, one of the most successful advertising agencies in the world. "... it wasn’t just what David Ogilvy said that made his principles special; it was also how he said it. ... Ogilvy communicated his principles [...]
I remember watching a TED video of Richard Dawkins (I think) who said that the cells in our body are always replacing themselves, so much so that after about 18 years, our body has an entirely new set of cells. How's that for a thought: I am not who I was 18 years ago!But surely I am? I am still Aiden, am I not? This is a big question for us as humans, but what about for the organisations and companies we lead [...]
Over the last few months we've been refining the way we approach narrative in organisations and have found something that now works for us, and is pretty simple to understand. Head on over to our Narrative Model page to see the model in full details. Credit must be given to Shaun Callahan from Anecdote who originally developed a very similar model that we've tweaked.
One of the questions Sonja and I often get when introducing ourselves is this, "Why use the word narrative? We find the word "story" easier to understand." In response we've said that the word "narrative" has more gravitas to it and communicates that we're more than just story-tellers. However, of late we've begun to use a way of describing narrative that Anecdote use: the difference between big "S" story and small "s" story. Here's what I mean ... Big "S" stories are the stories we're accustomed [...]
We often need to explain to people what a heuristic is. Usually we tell them that it's similar to a "rule of thumb" and then try to give examples. I came across this great example on Bob Sutton's blog ... "Today, after lunch, an executive told me a story about how a secretary where he worked walked-up to the boss and asked "when are the layoffs?" The boss looked shocked and wondered what in the world prompted the question. She answered that [...]
This image (from Dave's recent post on the Liverpool Slavery Museum) highlights the interplay between a dominant and alternative story, and how an alternative story can be freeing. What do I mean? Well, my background lies in narrative therapy - a new wave in the psychology domain that takes a narrative perspective on a persons problems and life. In essence, the way we speak about ourselves and our problems creates the reality we live in. If words are so important, then the way [...]
I've recently begun an experiment ... I've joined Twitter. Some have admonished me for being so late in joining the party, and others have responded with a quizzical look that says "is this the thing that geeks do?" A week into it and I have found it to be quite a natural extension to the status updates I do on Facebook, but with an edge. Twitter interests me because of the unstructured way in which people can broadcast thoughts, activities, links [...]
Sonja and are sitting at the Sandton Southern Sun listening to Justin Cohenpresent his preso on storytelling: What's Your Story? I met Justin in myTomorrowToday days and admired his blatant confidence in front of an audience. He is now turning his speaking prowess to punting the power of stories in the public sphere. We're sitting here 'cos we're fascinated by the range of applications of story. From traditional storytelling to business narrative, we see a spectrum of applications and uses of story [...]
Broadly speaking, the heart of our business is about the gathering of stories (many stories) within organisations so that decision makers can better understand their organisation or problem they are facing. In a sense, we're story-aggregators. Online content aggregators like Afrigator do a great job of funneling African generated web content into one easy-to-use place - that's a semi-official description. But what I think aggregators like Afrigator do, is to funnel stories, and fragments of stories. The challenge with dealing with this many stories [...]
