See a photo of Gregg, his bio, Part 1 of this Q&A, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6

Q&A with Gregg Morris, Question 7:

Q: You write that your site, What’s Your Story?, is “about stories and storytelling and how to use and tell those as you go about reinventing yourself and your business in light of the revolutionary changes going on in our society.” Without revealing all your trade secrets, can you talk a bit about how people can use storytelling to reinvent themselves?

A: No trade secrets here. We reinvent ourselves, our businesses or our organizations, because the stories we have been living and telling are no longer viable or working. It could be that we force ourselves into that reinvention. It could be that it’s forced upon us. As individuals, we might be unhappy with our marriage, our jobs, our spiritual life, any number of things, and decide to do something to fix that. As businesses or organizations, we could be unhappy with sales, product performance, employee performance, donor performance, again, any number of things that we decide to do something about. When looked at through the lens of story and storytelling, these situations provide us with the opportunity to overcome obstacles and tell a story about how we did that and the “new” or “different” us that emerges. Since I come at storytelling from both a literature and business background, I tend to see these as inciting incidents. And, inciting incidents always drive the best stories.

The sea change that has been going on for quite a few years now has forced a number of people to either reinvent themselves by telling and living a new and different story or to languish as the one they were living withers. Stories seem to flourish when infused with energy and die when deprived of it. Embracing the reinvention and renewal process with a new story taps into that energy.

I think that the difference between those who manage the reinvention and those who wither is directly related to storytelling. If we can see and follow the threads of narrative and story woven through our lives when we are faced with a life-altering event, then we can use storytelling to help us make sense of what’s happened and to get us through that. The more significant the event or conflicted situation we experience, the greater the opportunity to tap into and then tell a “hero” story. And hero stories seem to resonate with all of us.