Once Upon a Narrative: A Case for Story

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“There should be a place where only the things you want to happen, happen”
Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are

My two-year-old son is a big fan of Maurice Sendak’s illustrated books. He has this sparkle in his eyes and gets all excited when he points at the bookshelf shouting “Max, Max” every night. I can recount similar experiences when I look at my own pile of worn-down paperbacks.

Jéan Raath, Business Analyst, Zapper
Jéan will be speaking at the Business Analysis Conference Europe 23-25 September, London on the subject ‘
Campfire BA – Storytelling as a Strategic Enabler

Stories have played a quiet but crucial role in my life – in all of our lives.

I only realized it much later but looking back now I can clearly see the ripple on the water. Holidays spent building all sorts of unsafe rafts and treehouses; Late nights in the street pretending to be “Die Swartkat”; backpacking Europe and my deep love for Hip-Hop.

The influence of story can be seen all around in film, books, religion, music, architecture, art and enterprise.  Why is that? Why are stories and storytelling such an intrinsic part of our society and culture? Why are we so easily attracted to them? More importantly, why should we care?

Carving out our past

It is estimated that the Chauvet cave in France has drawings that date back 30,000 years! The walls are covered with animals such as deer, bison and lions and tell the stories of human endeavour and survival. The same is true for the El Castillo caves along northern Spain’s Cantabrian Sea coast. Etched into the rock is a primitive record detailing daily life, hunting rituals, the exploitation and use of natural resources and a long etcetera.

Fast forward to 700 B.C along the modern-day Turkish–Syrian and Iran–Iraq borders and we find the first printed story. The Epic of Gilgamesh recounts the life and times of the semi-mythic King of Uruk in Mesopotamia and is considered to be one of the earliest surviving works of literature.

From the hieroglyphics in ancient Egypt to the oral traditions of the Cherokee. From myth and folklore to written words formed into complex narratives.

Humans have been telling stories for thousands of years!

Human Nature 101

Storytelling, whether fable or factual, seems to be an intrinsic human characteristic.

To remember valiant deeds, great battles and the horror of war stories emerged as a way to preserve the emotions and events in our past. The way we communicate with others may have changed drastically over time but there’s no doubt that we’re still naturally wired for narrative.

There’s some great research in the fields of neuroscience and anthropology on this topic and the discoveries they’ve made are quite literally mind-blowing! Daniel Smith’s study on the Agta, Jonathan Gottschall’s incredible thesis or even the work and findings of author Kristen Lamb all point to the same conclusion:

Stories enable connection and interaction.

They’re recognizable patterns in which we find meaning.  More importantly, stories help us make sense of our world and allow us to share that understanding with others. According to Gottshall, we are perhaps the only “animals” that create and tell stories in the way we do and it’s a gamechanger.

A (Business) Case for Story

It’s easy to see why storytelling has become a theme for everyone and anyone looking to “sell” a better product or service. When you type ‘business storytelling’ into Google these days you’ll get more than a million search results in less than a second. Articles, blog posts and videos outline tips and techniques on how to “pull people in”, “build a brand that inspires trust” and “convince consumers to buy from you”.

The world’s biggest social media platforms have seen explosive growth on their ‘Stories’ format with Instagram reporting an expected ad revenue of 6,84 billion dollars for 2018.  The platform’s active story users hit 150 million by February 2017 and triggered a rollout of the feature across all Facebook products. Within 30 days Facebook Messenger Day, Facebook Stories and WhatsApp Status were released as new story channels and currently boast DAU (daily active user) figures in excess of 400 million.

It’s safe to say that stories are a force to be reckoned with. You may not always agree with the way it’s being used – I certainly don’t – but ignoring its (financial) impact is done at your own peril.

Attention equals money and stories have become a strategic tool in a world held to ransom by the paradox of choice.

What About Us

“We are searchlights, we can see in the dark. We are rockets, pointed up at the stars.”
– Pink, What About Us

The world’s a crazy place at the moment – exciting and full of opportunity but also scary. More than half of the conversations or meetings I sit in on these days are centred around digital transformation, big data and what the future will look like when artificial intelligence and machine learning truly come to fruition.

Drastic and constant change has become a given and with it, there’s an expectation that we need to keep up or get out. New methodologies, tech stacks and toolsets will come and go and it’s impossible to equip yourself with all of them!

So what do we do?

Focus on skills and approaches that are timeless.

Photo by Kevin Erdvig via Unsplash

My dad was a formidable storyteller. Growing up, some of my best memories happened around a fire of some sort listening to him recount deeds from the “old days”. So, when he passed away a few years ago, stories became a big theme for me. 

I’ve always found great joy in learning from everyday things and was suddenly intrigued by the magic of narrative and how key concepts from it could be applied to my industry and professional skillset.

There’s a simplicity in extracting a set of universal principles from seemingly unrelated domains and applying them in a different context and that’s exactly what I set out to do.

For the past year, I’ve been experimenting with these ideas in an attempt to extract key concepts or teachings from the world of story and narrative. There’s certainly enough evidence to make a case for its impact on our lives but how can we apply some of this secret sauce in a practical manner? How can we leverage this natural ‘compatibility’ to drive change and help unlock value delivery?

In a world where people are bombarded with information, options and content feeds, we need ways to cut through all the noise. What truly makes people look up and pay attention?

In my presentation “Campfire BA: Storytelling as a Strategic Enabler” I dig into these and other questions in the hope of sharing some of my insights.Join me at the #BusinessAnalysis Conference in London, 23-25 September 2019 and let’s find the answers together!

If you can’t make it out, don’t worry. I will do an extensive write-up post-conference so keep an eye on my socials and feel free to reach out if you have any thoughts!

Jéan is a keen conversationalist and part-time alchemist who serves as a facilitator, analyst and advisor to businesses and the technology that it enables.  He made the jump from the dark side (software development) in 2012 to pursue his passion for the analysis profession. His current adventure is in fintech but Jéan has experience in a variety of domains including manufacturing, retail and higher education. He believes building good products is difficult and business analysis holds the key to real business value in end-to-end project success.  Besides a postgraduate in Computer and Mathematical Sciences, he is a Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), holds a Diploma in Sports Management and is currently working towards his CBAP®. Twitter: @raathel

Copyright Jéan Raath, Business Analyst, Zapper

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