Mondays are perfect days for reflecting on the excellent memories of the beyond the week and not simply the thrilling facts. Storytelling, listening, and triggering are core competencies for a commercial enterprise, as this book explains. Listening to stories and telling them comes obviously to humans and deserves a systematic system in today’s corporations as nicely. Putting Stories to Work: Mastering Business Storytelling via Shawn Callahan is a practical manual primarily based on two decades of labor in Storytelling in agencies throughout dozens of nations.
The eleven chapters unfold over 270 pages and make for an informative read. A 5-page story index also correctly illustrates the principles of tale tagging and taxonomy. Shawn Callahan is a storytelling writer and teacher based in Melbourne. He has worked with organizations such as Danone and Allianz, SAP, and Tesco. He is the founding father of Anecdote, whose consulting programs are available in eight languages. Shawn holds a bachelor’s diploma in geography and archaeology from the Australian National University.
“Smart organizations are investing in supporting their people to systematically and purposefully discover powerful percentage memories,” Shawn begins. In film government, Peter Guber says, “Storytelling isn’t always shown enterprise. It’s the right business.”
I have summarised my key takeaways in the three sections below, in addition to Table 1 and a pair. See my critiques of the related books Unleash the Power of Storytelling, Let the Story Do the Work, The Storyteller’s Secret, Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins, Stories for Work, and Stories at Work. Entrepreneurs must look at YourStory’s Changemaker Story Canvas, an unfastened visualization device for startups and innovators.
I. Foundations
Storytelling through miming and drawing predates the spoken phrase. “Writing now dominates corporate existence. Yet, at our core, our innate conversation skills are miming and oral Storytelling,” Shawn explains.
He cites the definition of ‘story’ by using Richard Maxwell and Bob Dickman: “Stories are data, wrapped in context, and brought with meaning.” Shawn adds: “Stories are a user guide for lifestyles.”
A commercial enterprise story has a time and location marker, a sequence of related events, speakers, and a business point. An excellent tale conveys description, visualization, and empathy. Its characters must also have an element of surprise and intensity.
Many leaders, unfortunately, disregard stories in commercial enterprise contexts because stories are perceived as a waste of time, now not enterprise-like, something which the handiest youngsters or entertainers do, a manner of manipulation, or are made up. Instead, Shawn requires leaders to have the proper mindset and move toward compelling Storytelling.
“Sharing real-lifestyles oral testimonies bestows on a leader the superpowers of memorability, meaningfulness, and emotionality, all of which are essential in a global business where relationships, consideration, and the potential to adapt have grown to be important talents,’ Shawn emphasizes.
The book focuses extensively on oral Storytelling and opens the door to additional studies on written tales and digital media. Storytelling in the business context is like “company anthropology,” Making it a regular effective dependancy requires motivation, competencies, and a varied repertoire of long-lasting memories.
Deliberate exercise, conscious improvement, and a focus on human detail are essential for Storytelling. Having a “story friend” or relying on an internal circle allows one to examine testimonies. Stories may be categorized into three types on the intimacy spectrum: front porch memories (for every person), kitchen testimonies (for the inner circle), and bedroom stories (the most intimate ones). Practice helps determine how much of oneself the tale must monitor.
Powerpoint displays, and CEO roadshows aren’t as effective for commercial enterprise strategy as a memorable tale with an overarching narrative. By answering the Why question, such accounts assist the method to be remembered by way of employees and retold to others (regardless of their additions woven in).
Engaged employees will go above and beyond their call of duty, which allows leaders to proportion memories about the organization’s motives, development, and beliefs. It is critical for leaders to also trigger and hear memories from their employees—this allows understanding of perceptions and dedication.
“Stories of tremendous efforts are exquisite gasoline for inspiration,” Shawn explains. For instance, based on customer feedback, Apple asks personnel to give testimonies about how they successfully serve customers daily. “To inspire at work, leaders have to share stories of occasions big and small,” he advises.
Experiences framed by using a chain of stories enhance better decision-making practices. Relevant classes learned can be shared through stories and pressure behavior exchange. Lovely memories now do not draw listeners most effectively; however, boom, empathy, or even result in predicting what occurs next.
Story listening enables unearthing half of the truths, incorrect information, and lies (‘anti-tales’) inside the corporate grapevine, and it wants to be countered no longer with knowledge but with better opportunity memories or replacement tales.
II. Story Mastery
To be a successful storyteller, you must separate stories from non-memories (opinions, statistics, timelines), have accounts in your “mental back pocket, ” narrate anecdotes and broader patterns in the employer, and have a diverse range of clean stories.
“Spotting testimonies is the fundamental narrative intelligence you want to become a commercial enterprise storyteller,” Shawn emphasizes. This involves drawing connections between lived revel in and enterprise thoughts and includes figuring out “difficult diamonds” that may be polished to grow to be true testimonies.
In the entertainment enterprise, tales of energy, demise, youngsters’ safety, and sex make for “sticky memories” that ring a bell in our reptilian brains. Movie scenes and commercials provide relevant story factors.
In the business world, testimonials can be spotted during periodic conferences, during crises, when humans are under pressure, or when new matters are happening. They may even be spotted anywhere the “quirky, eccentric mavericks dangle out.”
Story-eliciting questions are helpful in this regard. Artworks, images, and photographs, mainly of human beings in movement, may be evocative gear properly; so are artifacts such as sketches, maps, and other physical gadgets. However, Shawn explains that testimonies can no longer be over-dramatized or made into performances; the best communicators are conversational.
Stories can help leaders show that they care, have individual and rational reasons, and have learned training from their enjoyment. Shawn advises that such reports should be visual, emotional, and interesting for such statements to be memorable.
Stories may be remembered through powerful tags, with many examples illustrated inside the ebook: CEO rejects bribe, The lawyer with integrity, Shifting the factory, The Xerox repairman tale, Refugees annoying a library card, The Zen master and the professor, and The Apollo 13 scene.
Rather than depending on massive memories, it facilitates telling lots of tiny but vivid, relatable, and emotional tales. At the same time, telling stories always without a commercial enterprise factor is dangerous, making the narrator sound like a “gasbag,” Shawn cautions.
Stories assist thoughts spread like a deadly disease (Malcolm Gladwell) or even a forest fireplace (Duncan Watts). Founder stories are compelling in reinforcing the organization’s origin, early struggles, hard choices, median values, and adjustments in direction. For example, when Steve Jobs lowered back to Apple, he trimmed the point of interest to the most straightforward four merchandise in a 2X2 matrix (Consumer and Pro; Desktop and Laptop).
“A price isn’t a fee until it fees your cash,” Shawn explains; values testimonies have to illustrate the tradeoffs made for the duration of decisions and make values like honesty and integrity come true.
Vision testimonies should be constructed on favored futures and feature terms like “what if.” Connection testimonies build rapport through the human element, particularly while addressing new audiences; they build on turning points in non-public activities or painting occurrences.
Clarity testimonies toughen logical reasoning through narrative systems like <In the past> <Then something happened> <So now> <In the future>. It recognizes beyond problems and the complexities of alternate and then describes preferred states and steps.
Imagery and assessment factors are essential in clarity testimonies. Involving a team in growing readability stories allows them to connect to them (the ‘IKEA effect’ of loving something you create).
An approach tale must not be too easy or slick (a ‘Pollyanna tale’ in which everything is good). It should acknowledge earlier anti-stories, and the leaders’ behaviors must align with the tale.
Influence tales can use the ‘tale before argument’ precept to triumph over confirmation bias in listeners; they should no longer sense reviews are being pushed at them. The shape ought to be <Acknowledge the anti-story> <Share the new example or story> <Make the case> <Reiterate the point>.
In other words, the affected sample has a downbeat tale followed by a tremendous story, which collectively provides the answer. Their impact adventure should be accurate, relatable, credible, simple, and proven.
“Anti-stories mirror the true concerns of personnel and that they have to be addressed. Consequently, leaders must recognize the anti-memories of their employers. They want to be related to their personnel and have their ears to the floor,” Shawn emphasizes.
Case studies may be livened up with human elements, including emotions and the names of people involved (even if the names used are not actual). Analogy memories bring symbols from different fields (e.g., Ryan Lochte beating Michael Phelps by inventing a new form of dolphin kick) or parables (e.g., Bringing Zen tales into the Western tradition).
Presentations may be simplified into three sections: What, So What, and Now What. Sales pitches can draw on the readability story pattern and even encompass failure testimonies and lessons learned; clients should also be invited to share their testimonies.
III. Stories in action
The ebook contains several private and commercial enterprise memories from Shawn’s tremendous enjoyment. Narrative intelligence in an enterprise changes the tradition for the better.
For example, the Victoria Department of Education has monthly teleconferences where teachers share testimonies of innovative practices and discuss how to replicate and scale them. Ritz-Carlton asks employees to submit ‘Wow’ affidavits of excellent customer support every two weeks, and the HR branch selects one for sharing throughout the motel chain.
Wynn Resorts has hooked up a tale program that runs every day. In groups of 6-12, employees are requested to share tales of something unique that happens with visitors every day. This makes successful employees feel like heroes, spurs them to be exemplary, and broadens their testimonies.
Home equipment corporation PIRCH has advanced a manifesto of 23 aphorisms, including honor, your guarantees, Be actual, Slow down, and even if you have a tremendous bottle of wine, drink it. Its showroom is like an enjoyment park for adults, where they could “nude up” and walk underneath a 15-meter row of showerheads to decide which one to choose.
New personnel is exposed to suitable purchaser practices and Storytelling in corporations such as Nordstrom, Tesla, Tiffany, and Lululemon. They then form a circle to share testimonies about the business enterprise’s aphorisms based on a group of artifacts. Informal Storytelling also happens around seaside bonfires, narrated by founder tales and top neighborhood stories. Good place of business memories are shared weekly on the Manifesto Moments Online intranet.
