A List Too Great Not to Reprint

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In an exuberant blog entry called The Chemistry of Storytelling, Marguerite Grant has created an inspiring list that answers the question, “Why story?”

We don’t just buy a product, we buy the story behind it.

We don’t just join a company, we join because of its story.

We don’t just join a cause, we join the story behind it.

We don’t just vote for a presidential candidate, we buy into his story of what the future holds.

We don’t just follow the leader, we buy in to the story behind her vision.

We don’t learn best by hearing a theory or concept, we learn best by hearing stories that demonstrate the concept.

We don’t just see a movie or read a novel, we lose ourselves in a good story.

Based on the fact that we buy stories, it’s not the best product that will sell; it’s the product with the best story behind it. It’s not the best employer that attracts the most candidates; it’s the one who knows how to tell a story through its employment brand.

How have you’ve applied good storytelling in your life?

I especially like the fact that Grant is blogging on the blog of Talent Culture, a careers-related community that offers “the latest perspectives of what it means to find meaningful careers and use them to grow.”

Her statement, “It’s not the best employer that attracts the most candidates; it’s the one who knows how to tell a story through its employment brand,” can be turned around for job-seekers: It’s not the best candidate that gets the job; it’s the one who knows how to tell a story through his or her personal/career brand brand.

Improving Your Storied Brand in Social Media, Part 1

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Though I am unlikely to be able to attend, my friend Trey Pennington is putting on a mighty tempting conference later this month. It’s called Social Story: How To Tell Your Story Through Social Media, and another friend, Sean Buvala, will present there. While I suspect that the conference will be oriented toward businesses and solopreneurs, I feel like most of the principles that apply to these groups also apply to individuals and job-seekers who want to tell stories in social media about their personal brands.

For example, Trey recently posted an entry on his blog entitled TIP: Use Facebook to tell your “who we are” story by giving fans behind-the-scenes access in which he wrote:

Wondering how to put Facebook to work building connections with prospects and customers? You can use unused photos from your catalog photo shoot to give catalog recipients behind-the-scenes access. When you do, you use the power of social media to help customers experience your “who we are” story for themselves. You make it possible for them to personalize your story and make it their own. Encourage comments. More importantly, ACKNOWLEDGE comments.

So how might we adapt this tip to an individual/job-seeker so that you “use the power of social media to help [employers] experience your “who [I am]” story for themselves? Instead of unused catalog photos, the individual could post photos of being engaged in a workplace project. And the individual can (and should) certainly encourage and acknowledge comments.

A while back, Georgina Laidlaw talked about some of these same principles of storied personal branding in a series highlighting characterization, plot, and narrative.

In the characterization piece, Laidlaw writes:

We all know that there’s a plethora of options for communicating your character though personal branding, including:

  • the channels you use
  • the language you use
  • your profile data
  • the photos you publish of yourself and others
  • your interests, pastimes, and the topics you focus on, including links and other content you promote
  • your frequency and depth of public engagement with others
  • the places you like to visit or meet others

The other side to the characterization coin is to work out which pieces of information most clearly define the key aspects of your character. Few of us have time to transmit every piece of the minutiae of our days or nights, so we need to choose what we’ll communicate. How do you know what will best illustrate your character to your contacts?

The answer for Laidlaw, she says, is to communicate things you’re passionate about.

Here’s an excerpt from the plot piece:

In a personal branding story, plot is news and events. If each day is an adventure in the story of your life, then each event has the potential to form part of the plot.

Storytellers leave certain aspects out of plot (no one uses the bathroom in a movie, for example, unless something crucial to the storyline happens in there). They do this because some events are irrelevant to the story they’re telling. Those events waste time and distract the audience from the critical pieces of the story.

So for you as an individual trying to build a personal brand, your plotline is your news: what happens every day, and what it means to you. If you have multiple plotlines (reflecting different facets of your life), those events may have a range of impacts on your life. Which parts you choose to communicate, and the ways in which you communicate them, is up to you as the storyteller.

And from the narrative piece:

…[N]arrative is the way you tell stories. It’s the glue that ties your characters to the plot events in your story. As well as elements like scene setting, narrative includes description, so we’ll deal with these aspects together.

You are the key narrator in your own personal branding story, though other characters may have a part in narrating from time to time (for example, a guest blogger narrates part of your brand story while you’re on vacation, or away at a conference).

Since you’re the narrator, the way you tell your story will be driven largely by your character. The channels you choose, and how effectively you use them to narrate your story, will also depend on your character.

While I have a bit of difficulty — in practice — in distinguishing the difference between Laidlaw’s plot and narrative concepts, I find this series an excellent treatment bringing together storytelling, social media, and personal branding.

I’ll be interested to learn the extent to which the Social Story conference views these concepts the same way Laidlaw does. I hope participants produce some meaty writeups for those of us who can’t attend.

In the days leading up to Trey’s and Sean’s conference, I’ll be posting more about this topic.

This Might Just Be the Holy Grail of Presentation Storytelling — About Storytelling

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I’ve long been interested in storytelling in presentations and have followed the SlideShare presentation contests (especially the Tell a Story incarnation), as well as storytelling-in-presentation gurus like the guys at ethos3, Nancy Duarte, and Joyce Hostyn.

Somewhere in the midst of my study of this subject, reader Raf Stevens brought me up short by asking what exactly constituted good storytelling in presentations. I looked extensively into possible answers to that one but never felt I was quite there.

Most recently, I wished that Lou Hoffman’s superb presentation about storytelling had more story in it.

For that, to me, has been a holy-grail kind of quest: A presentation that not only has storytelling as its centerpiece but that is actually about storytelling — one that sells the idea of applied storytelling by telling a story.

Today I learned of a presentation that might just be that holy grail. The auteur is Gavin Heaton of Servant of Chaos. The bulk of the presentation is a compelling story. The images are absolutely gorgeous. Type on the slides is minimal. Best of all, it’s a storytelling presentation about storytelling.

Bonus: The slideshow pretty much stands on its own without a presenter to elucidate it.

When I got to near the end of the slide deck, where Heaton introduces a second story — one from Mad Men — I knew exactly what story it would be: the riveting, unforgettable scene from Season 1 in which Don Draper pitches an ad campaign for Kodak’s Carousel slide projector.

Recapping Business Novels and Adding a New One

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Since the early days of this blog, I’ve been fascinated by the concept of the “business novel” or fable and have blogged about every one I’ve come across.

At the end of this entry, I’ve listed all the biz novels (I think) that I’ve ever featured in this space, with links to the original posting about each.

I’m also adding a new one to the roster: The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea, by Bob Burg and John David Mann. Here’s a description:

In 2008 a “little story about a powerful business idea” took the business world by storm with its message: that shifting our focus from getting to giving is the simplest, most fulfilling and most effective path to success in business and in life.

Rapidly going from national bestseller to global phenomenon, The Go-Giver soon gained a devoted following in its original English and in more than sixteen foreign-language editions. From schools, churches and hospitals to law firms and information technology companies, individuals and groups around the world have applied the book’s Five Laws of Stratospheric Success to their organizations and businesses, relationships and personal lives.

The Go-Giver tells the story of an ambitious young man named Joe who yearns for success. Joe is a true go-getter, though sometimes he feels as if the harder and faster he works, the further away his goals seem to be. And so one day, desperate to land a key sale at the end of a bad quarter, he seeks advice from the enigmatic Pindar, a legendary consultant referred to by his many devotees simply as the Chairman.

Excerpt from the book:

Pindar smiled. “Please don’t misunderstand me. There’s nothing wrong with making money. Lots of it, in fact. It’s just not a goal that will make you successful.” Reading the bewilderment on Joe’s face, he nodded and put his hand up to signal that he would explain.

“You see,” Pindar continued, “the majority of people operate with a mindset that says to the fireplace, ‘First give me some heat, then I’ll throw on some logs.’ Or that says to the bank, ‘Give me interest on my money, then I’ll make a deposit.’ And of course, it just doesn’t work that way.” Joe frowned, trying to parse the logic of Pindar’s examples.

“You see? You can’t go in two directions at once. Trying to be successful with making money as your goal is like trying to travel a superhighway at seventy miles an hour with your eyes glued to the rearview mirror.”

This year, the authors published a follow-up book, Go-Givers Sell More. “The new book is not a parable or story,” the authors write, “that is, not exactly a sequel to The Go-Giver. (A “real” sequel to the story is also in the works, but that’s going to be a surprise for 2011.) Instead, this book is more like a Go-Giver Companion, a set of short, essay-like chapters about applying the Go-Giver principles to real-world situations, especially in the context of sales and selling. The book is also punctuated by several dozen real-life stories of people we know who live these principles.”

By the way, the authors offer downloadable and other goodies here.


Business novels and fables previously featured on A Storied Career:

Barbara Fillip of Knowledge for Development, LLC, is also fascinated with business novels and compiled a helpful list of examples. I posted an entry with her a link to her list, but her posting has a new address since I first posted in 2008.

Last Five Months in Storytelling: The Re-Mix

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Up until a week or so ago, I felt I was playing a massive game of catch-up following our cross-country move and completion of our new house in Washington. I purposely lined up a slew of new Q&A interviews with story practitioners to run during this period when I felt I might not have time to meet my personal commitment of 7/365 blog entries.

During some of its life, the purpose of this blog has been to curate storytelling news and bring it to the attention of fans of applied storytelling. That’s a purpose I mostly haven’t been able to fulfill during these hectic months. Fortunately, other bloggers/tweeters like Gregg Morris, Michael Margolis, and Cathryn Wellner are doing a better job with that function than I’ve been able to.

Another function I’ve tried to fulfill with this blog is to synthesize and analyze story news. To find connections among various items about storytelling. To speculate about what it all means. To look at one story application and imagine how it could be applied to a different function. We could call this process “remixing” timely story topics.

I also noticed recently that readership of this blog is down significantly over last year. Speculations:

  • Natural attrition that probably happens to most blogs.
  • Readers are tired of the Q&As. I was running a lot of Q&As at this time last year, though, when readership was higher.
  • Readers see my entries as lame and/or rushed.
  • Readers prefer to get their story news sooner — hot news as opposed to warmed-over.

I employ several techniques for keeping up with the storytelling world and have kept all these communication channels open during the time I’ve been preoccupied. I could simply skip the last five months during which I was not consistently monitoring the storytelling world. After all, in the social-media world and the blogosphere, content becomes stale incredibly quickly.

But maybe I can revisit story content from the last five months and add a new twist, a new insight, a new synthesis, a new application.

Let’s try it and see how it goes. I welcome your input and feedback.

Story Drives Dance: National Dance Day Is Today

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My earliest and most sustained ambition was to be a dancer — specifically a ballerina. After five years of childhood dance lessons, I realized I was no good at learning steps. Many years later, I identified my disability as a very poor capacity for kinesthetic learning; my brain simply could not observe a teacher doing dance steps and translate the same movements to my own body.

My inability to learn dance steps has always seemed like a cruel joke of nature, and there’s still a tiny part of me that feels as though I was meant to be a dancer, but my body and brain won’t cooperate. I probably could have confronted my disability; after all, I’ve seen auditions and performances of dancers who are deaf, who are amputees, who have scoliosis. But I didn’t, so it seems unlikely at my advancing age that I will ever be a dancer.

But I love dance and gravitate toward watching dance as entertainment. I’ve written before about my love of the reality dance competition “So You Think You Can Dance” (in fact, now that I look back, I see I also wrote about my dance ambitions and kinesthetic learning deficiencies). This show has a level of heart and authenticity that separates it from many other reality competition shows.

One indicator of how special this show is: Its personnel have initiated today’s National Dance Day, a day to get people moving and appreciating dance. Popular show choreographers Tabitha and Napoleon (a.k.a., NappyTabs) even designed a dance number that the masses could learn and perform for today’s celebration.

So what does all this have to do with story? Most of the dance numbers choreographers give contestants to perform on the show have a story behind them, and the judges to a large extent evaluate the numbers based on how successfully the contestants communicate the story. When the numbers have no story behind them, they are, in my opinion, less successful and memorable. Last night, show judge Adam Shankman, a director and choreographer, told one contestant to let the story drive the dance — that keeping the story in mind as he danced would inform and enhance his dancing.

The stories behind the contestants — and how much the audience knows about those stories — often play a strong role in how successful they are in the competition. This year’s most popular dancer, for example, is Kent, a hayseed from a tiny Ohio farming town — who dances like a god. Two winners in recent years have been street dancers with little formal training. A contestant who is a favorite with the judges and a wonderful dancer is less popular with viewers because we learned very little about his backstory during the audition phase of the competition.

Today I celebrate National Dance Day and the show that inspired it, as well as the dancer deep within me — and all the stories that propel dance into the dazzling art form it is.

Designers Sought to Tell Stories of Sex-Trade Victims

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Michael Margolis’s newsletter made me aware of this worthy project, “Be a Biographer” from The Blind Project:

“Be a Biographer” invites designers, artists and creative-minded people to help tell the stories of victims and survivors of the commercial sex trade through their designs. “We want to connect your talents with her needs. For freedom, love, hope, dignity and protection. Our role is simple. To tell her story. To be her biographer,” said Anthony Dodero, co‐founder of The Blind Project.

Right now millions of women and children are being enslaved and exploited in the multibillion dollar commercial sex trade. “In a system that treats human lives like meaningless commodities, the greater mission of Biographe is to restore and reveal the true value of those victimized. Because when every life has equal value, all stories, all hopes and all dreams are worthy,” said Jessica Sturman, The Blind Project’s lead fashion designer.

Biographe is unique in its method of connecting survivors and consumers together to bring attention to, and provide solutions for, sexual slavery. Fashion products are inspired by survivor stories, designed with the public at large through our crowdsourcing design process, and then made by women who have been rescued from the commercial sex trade. Proceeds from sales are then reinvested back into the women’s lives creating a virtuous sustainable cycle.

Participants have until September 15th to submit a design on www.beabiographer.com. Then from September 16th to October 7th, public voting begins to determine the 15 semi‐finalists (5 for each of the 3 stories) based on the highest number of votes. On October 21st three Grand Finalists will be selected by our panel of notable judges. The winning designs will be incorporated into fashion items, printed for gallery exhibitions and shown in advertising campaigns.

You can also read survivor stories on the site.

Questions About Organizational Storytelling, Linguistic Sensemaking, Antenarrative?

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David Boje is one of the leading scholars of organizational storytelling. I encountered large bodies of his work while in my PhD program, and I must admit it takes me an enormous amount of effort and brain power to wrap my head around his research and concepts. But he has a prodigious Web presence, so there’s no lack of material to try and understand.

One of the newest — or at least one that I have most recently come across — is StoryOrgs, described as a “Knowledge Sharing site where we explore the mysteries of organizational storytelling and linguistic sensemaking together.” The site is a place where folks can pose questions about Boje’s concepts. A few samples:

  • Does restory unearth submerged narrative/antenarrative patterns?
  • Derrida and deconstruction vs storytelling and antenarrative?
  • What academic pursuits have been facilitated by antenarrative based story analysis?
  • How do we explain zen koans in linguistic or antenarrative terms?
  • End and means, is an END an ANTEnarrative or not?
  • The limits of language and sensemaking?
  • What is NOT an antenarrative ?!?
  • Experimental methods for antenarrative research?
  • What is the difference between story and narrative?

The concept of “antenarrative” is one of Boje’s most significant contributions to organizational storytelling research. StoryOrgs clearly needs users to understand antenarrative and links to this explanation in its FAQs:

Antenarrative is defined as a ‘bet’ on shaping the future, and a ‘before’ a full blown stable narrative has been constructed.

For first use of term ‘antenarrative’ see: Boje, D. M. 2001. Narrative Methods for Organizational and Communication Research. London: Sage.

Antenarrative is defined as “non-linear, incoherent, collective, unplotted, and pre-narrative speculation, a bet, a proper retrospective narrative with Beginning, Middle, and End (BME) can be constituted” (Boje, 2001: 1). Antenarratives are “in the middle” and “in-between” (Boje, 2001: 293) refusing to attach linear BME coherence. Whereas, most BME narratives and narrative fragments are retrospective (backward-looking) antenarratives are more often prospective (forward-looking). BME Narratives must achieve coherence, developmental plots required by narrative theorists (Gabriel, 2000:20, 22; Czarniawska, 1997: 79, 98; 1998: vii, 2).

Routledge is releasing a book: Storytelling and the Future of Organizations: An Antenarrative Handbook, David M. Boje, Ph.D., Editor

StoryOrgs is characterized as being different from discussion boards and the like because:

  • It has a simple question-and-answer (Q&A) approach
  • Knowledge is naturally organized by a flexible, faceted tag-based topic system (folksonomy)
  • The system automatically protects the community from irresponsible online behaviors
  • It offers many social media features such as newsfeeds, alerts, profiles,

Pet-Loss Stories Sought

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Robin Souers (who happens to be my sister) is writing an article or perhaps a series of articles on pet loss and grief.

She’s seeking stories that are more than just facts. “I’m especially interested in the thoughts and feelings people experience when they lose a pet and how they cope,” she says. The stories can concern any kind of pet, and any kind of loss.

Incentives/rewards may be available for stories she uses in the article.

Robin asks that folks email submissions to her.