Michael Margolis was one of the facilitators (along with Madelyn Blair and Steve Denning) of the first Smithsonian Storytelling Conference I attended in 2005. I’ve followed his work and his firm THIRSTY-FISH since.
The Q&A with Michael will appear over the next five days.
Bio: Michael Margolis is a pioneer in the fields of brand storytelling and 
constituent relations. As the president and founder of THIRSTY-FISH, Michael provides strategic story solutions to clients including AARP, Coty, Ernst & Young, Marriott, NASA, The Nature Conservancy, and YWCA. He offers more than a decade of experience across the realms of story-based marketing, organizational change, and cultural innovation. Prior to launching THIRSTY-FISH in 2002, Michael was a social entrepreneur and co-founded two successful nonprofits in the areas of public service, workforce development, and business technology.
Michael is a contributing author to the leading compendium on strategic storytelling, Wake Me Up When the Data is Over: How Organizations Use Stories to Drive Results (Jossey-Bass, 2006), author of the blog PopAnthropology.com, and a traveling keynote speaker.
An outspoken proponent of the Talent Economy, Michael has had his work recognized by Fast Company Magazine, Silicon Alley Reporter, Los Angeles Business Journal, and Hawaii Community Television. In 2001, the American Society for Training & Development’s T&D Magazine, profiled Michael as one of “Training’s New Guard” for the new millennium. Michael’s formal studies include a bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology from Tufts University, a business certificate from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Management, and a certificate in organizational storytelling from the Center for Narrative Studies. Michael was raised in Switzerland as a child, before moving to Los Angeles, Boston, and Washington, DC. Currently living in New York City, Michael is an advisor to local organizations including NYU Stern Business Plan Competition and Eco-Africa Social Ventures (a Zimbabwe Artisan Collective).
Q&A with Michael Margolis (Question 1):
Q: The storytelling movement seems to be growing explosively. Why now? What is it about this moment in human history and culture that makes storytelling so resonant with so many people right now?
A: Humans have always been hard-wired for storytelling. In my opinion, storytelling is the evolutionary leap that led to the growth of culture, commerce, and civilizations. It just so happens we have reached a new inflection point in our collective evolution.
The implications of Web 2.0 and technological innovation on humankind are staggering. As I like to describe it, “the means of story production have become democratized”. Consider that just 10 years ago – email, cell phones, websites, blogs, digital cameras, Facebook, video cameras, etc – either didn’t exist or certainly weren’t ubiquitous part of our everyday lives. Now, anybody who has a story to tell can choose from countless affordable, sophisticated, and easy-to-use platforms to get their story out to the world. Now getting people to listen to your stories, that’s another matter.
In a complex, interdependent world where worldviews and value systems collide, we naturally turn to storytelling as our most basic coping mechanism for making sense and meaning of everything around us. We are swimming in a sea of stories, trying to find our way in a universe and commercial marketplace of infinite choices. Have you counted lately how many types of toothpaste you can choose from on the supermarket shelf? That’s a lot of competing storylines from the most mundane to the sacred.