Signature Thinking: Creating Memorable Experiences – #2

The power of storytelling
“Your ‘story’ is not the end – it’s the means to the end.” That’s just one of the many memorable little lessons I’ve learned from artist, book author and learning software developer, Peter H. Reynolds.

Co-created stories drive shared learnings and actions

In a recent interview Reynolds and his twin brother and co-collaborator, Paul, conducted with my team for client research on learning experiences, he shared an even more intriguing gem: “A story is a short piece of string with a knot in it somewhere. Untying knots. . . that’s critical thinking.”

For me, the points are strong and simple: learning should be less about consuming and more about creating. Many of us are used to the idea of a teacher or author as a dispenser of information and knowledge… kind of like a hamster and a water bottle. One drop at a time. But this is completely changing. Hands-on learning, co-creation, communal storytelling – all stimulate innovation, creativity, and shared value. And they make for more memorable lessons and experiences. Some call this ‘story-doing’. (See, for example, the corporate work being done by JWT North America’s Ty Montague and others: www.tymontague.com)

EXPERIENCE TIP: Use storytelling to create a new vision. And open the vision up to others.

When you tell a story, you create a new vision in the minds of the audience – driving new possibilities and realities. This is the essential first step in transforming ideas into action. Once your story illustrates how you’ve addressed the audience’s challenge or problem, your call-to-action highlights the desired behavior and the rewards that can result from it. Make the audience’s story part of your story.

It amazes me – not in a good way – when working with clients, that they still often tend to see the business world from the ‘inside-out’… that is, from their product, service or solution’s point of view. It’s understandable: there’s a lot of intellectual property, financial and material investment, and stakeholder reputation on the line to meet a quarterly or pipeline quota – not just on a ‘widget’, but on the way it fits a complex market view designed to kill the competition, or at least eat away at their market share. (This is especially the case in business technology, where I spend most of my professional time.) Problem is, even though the widget may help them, customers don’t view the world this way. They’re, by definition, ‘outside-in’. And it’s the job of the business to help persuade the audience that it actually sees the world ‘their way’. Businesses must demonstrate empathy for their customers and prospects. This often begins simply with a good story – one that demonstrates understanding, and offers a shared path to solution. “Once upon a time, there was this Chief Marketing Officer who had so much customer data, she didn’t know what to do with it.” (Now there’s a knot to untie. Let’s see how we can help.)

The power of storytelling is the ability to make the story transformational for others. Use your story to help shape a concept or idea for others. We are all works in progress. So why not invite everybody in? Help them co-author the story to help them find out who they are.

via Business 2 Community http://ift.tt/1iPoNnm