resources through enterprise resource management (ERM). That is an incredible amount of information that has now been parsed, categorized, tagged, and made available to leaders and employees.
Unfortunately, we haven’t captured the highest value information of all, the stories that hold all of the people and tools and technologies together. Stories about what’s expected of people in this organization. Stories about how we succeed and how we fail, what’s important and what’s not, how to get things done, how to manage, how to sell, and how to lead. We haven’t captured stories that show people how to make ethical decisions, how to delight customers, how to streamline operations, and how to balance work and life. But these are the stories that hold all of our systems together. In fact, these stories are the glue that holds the whole organization together, just as stories of our history, our parents, and our friends hold families and communities together. These are the stories that become the fabric of large organizations and the grit that helps entrepreneurial companies succeed in the face of overwhelming odds. These are the stories that need to be told—the gold that should be passed around.
The truth is that we don’t have a “system” to hold this most valuable information. And if there is no system, it doesn’t get captured. This book is a kind of “system.” Its purpose is to show you how to capture the high-value information that is all around you—the gold—and put it to use to impact your own performance and the performance of the organization. This book will show you why stories are powerful and how to capture, organize, and tell those stories in a way that inspires your performance and the performance of those around you.
Lest I be accused of being a Luddite, I think that most technology is extremely beneficial. As leaders, we have a plethora of tools to use in our communications. We have more ways than ever to reach out to people and build relationships, and we must make daily choices with our communications. But we must be conscious and intentional about how we use these tools.
E-mail, PowerPoint slides, pagers, and phones are the most common ways we communicate. In the crush of the average day, we make many snap decisions about our communications, often unconsciously. But what happens to the content of the message? As media analyst and philosopher Marshall McLuhan pointed out, too often the message gets shaped by the medium, so leaders strip away the extraneous material and give us the bullet points; just what we need to know—delivered fast. Most communications end up as disembodied information that is out of context, and, as such, doesn’t connect with people. This means that we end up filling people’s pans with more mud and grit and detail instead of offering them a gold nugget that will be much more valuable to them.
“Learning is like Velcro. An unfiltered fact is not a complete fastener. Only one side of learning is made up of facts; the other consists of stories—that is, ideas and images.”
– RICHARD SAUL WURMAN1
Stories bring information to life by making it actionable, memorable, and lifelike. Stories bring back the context, color, feeling, and meaning of our work. By showing people how to have success and where the pitfalls are, stories help people understand what it feels like to be “in the situation,” and they learn by the examples of others’ decisions. Adding stories makes communications “stickier”—the degree to which our communications are memorable and actionable.
In my work with leaders and stories over the past ten years, I have found that leaders are hungry for a different way to engage their people. I have also found that a leader’s own stories of success and failure are the most potent for improving performance. It is the leader’s ability to translate his or her experiences into stories that gives that leader a performance advantage.
NATURAL RESOURCES
Stories combine two elements that make them truly powerful tools: utility and significance. Many of the tools that we currently use in organizations have one or the other, but not both. From our cell phones to our CRM systems, our technology tools have tremendous utility. They are packed with features; the Swiss Army knives of our time. But they lack significance—a connection to what we as human beings care about, what builds relationships and motivates us to perform better.
The tools in our organizations that do connect with what we care about, the tools that we use to enhance performance and motivate people, have significance but limited utility. The pay packages and incentive systems, benefits, vacation policies, training conferences, and awards dinners that help us show up and perform, don’t “scale.” They often are one-use-only tools whose effect is felt and then dissipates quickly.
Stories don’t dissipate. They hold their utility and significance long after the originator of the story is gone. Anyone who has worked for a large organization like the Red Cross or IBM, or even an entrepreneurial business that has some staying power, knows that some stories never die. The legends have utility long after their namesakes have disappeared.
Unlike other tools, techniques, consulting services, and systems that we have to purchase, stories are natural resources. They lie just under the surface of any organization, like an aquifer. Just as countries tap into their natural resources in order to create wealth, leaders must do the same in our organizations. We must tap into this well of stories and share them, because they eventually evaporate into the atmosphere only to come raining down again and again. After all, they are our stories.
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
This book is about panning for gold. Not gold in the real sense, but the gold we find in our work, our communications, and our relationships. Gold that people share with each other and that illuminates ways to perform better and have more fun.
It is my hope that you use this book both as a set of ideas and as a set of tools. The book is a paperback by design, and as such it is meant to be carried around, written in, and referenced. The stories in this book are meant to ignite your imagination—to get you thinking about your own stories, why they matter, and where they will help you take positive action.
The book is organized into four parts. Part One begins with a description of the “problem” leaders face, followed quickly by a solution in Part Two. That solution is then put into action in Part Three by a powerful set of tools—the Win Book, Story Matrix, and Story Coach. In Part Four, I focus in on the techniques of using stories in three particular contexts: leadership, sales, and motivation. I believe that these are the three most critical skills in business. We all need a solid combination of these three skills. Think of it this way: Can you think of a great leader who was not also a great salesperson? Or a great salesperson that wasn’t a leader or strong motivator?
The best way to read this book is, predictably, from start to finish. That way, you are certain to see how each part builds on the preceding one, and you will get your arms around “the whole story.” Reading one part only is certainly an option, but you run the risk of missing some key stories and concepts that you can apply immediately.
FIGURE 0.1 How to Use This Book
That said, each part explores a concept in its entirety. In addition, the story tools described in Part Three function independently of one another. Although I use them as a complete set, you may find one of the three much more in tune with your personal style, and I encourage you to run with that.
The book has several other features to which I want to draw your attention. There are, of course, lots
