On Stories
4 September 2023
Stories are the most powerful tool we have for engaging people with new ideas and to challenge mindsets.
Stories that include characters we identify with, that allow us to experience emotions as they do and those that offer vivid details can transport us into other worlds and environments. When this phenomenon happens—referred to in academic literature as “narrative transportation”—people are more likely to take perspective of others, are less likely to counter argue and become more invested in the story. That means a well-told story has the power to shift perspectives on an issue where a presentation of facts or data may not. We don’t have the power to mandate a shift in hearts and minds, but a compelling story can begin to drive that change.
Stories have the power to make the new familiar and the familiar new.
Multiple areas of academic scholarship demonstrate that we do not rationally process the world and all the inputs that come in through our senses, but we place inputs into “buckets” of what our brains have previously experienced. We often make decisions automatically based on our gut instinct and often aren’t aware that’s what is happening. Scientists call these buckets “schemas.” Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget’s work in human cognitive development classifies schema as a way of organizing information and the basic building block of knowledge. You may also be familiar with the famous metaphor American social psychologist Jonathan Haidt uses to further illustrate how we process the world: through the frame of the elephant and the rider — the elephant is the “gut level” decisions we all make, while the rider is activated in our rare activation of rational examination and conscious processing. For the vast majority of us, the vast majority of the time, we’re governed by that elephant (or what the scholar Daniel Kahneman calls system 1 thinking). Stories, when told as narratives, can often activate our existing schemas that are developed in our childhood and through the absorption of our cultures. They call into action our internal ‘rider’ (or system 2 thinking). It is intentional design of stories, activating certain schemas and juxtaposing new facts with familiar plots and metaphors, or shifting the typical plots, metaphors and images we use time and time again, that can increase familiarity or attention-driving when sharing stories.
Stories are the vessels of culture, and culture is networked.
We may think of ourselves as experiencing the culture of the organization or a society in which we work. But culture isn’t simply experienced, we also manifest and build it through our individual and collective behaviors and how we interact with others. Countless studies have documented the role stories play in defining or shifting culture. Well-built stories are fundamental to building, reinforcing, or shifting culture. Many of the challenges the ILO are striving to overcome aren’t centered on an absence of data, but focused on operating in cultures that are dissimilar to the ILO’s. A well built story could help close that gap.
Stories help place data in context and provide a way to navigate facts.
Empirical and systemic data are the very foundation of all great decisions and strategies. While the word and concept of “story” has often been connected with works of fiction, we firmly advocate that every story you tell must be grounded in truth and empirical facts; the power of stories’ structure and delivery can be activated in non-fictional use as well. Some may shy away from the use of story — it may be perceived as subjective — and they would prefer to let data do the explaining. While that is an understandable perspective, ignoring the fallacy of the argument that curated data is objective, research has shown that data without the contextual elements of story can be dangerous as it allows personal biases of those who examine the data to slip in. A metaphor we like using is one of a forest: if data are the trees of the forest and it is easy for people walking in those forests to come out at different points if left unguided, a story is the dirt path through the forest that safely leads everyone to the same exit point.
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Stories that include characters we identify with, that allow us to experience emotions as they do and those that offer vivid details can transport us into other worlds and environments. When this phenomenon happens—referred to in academic literature as “narrative transportation”—people are more likely to take perspective of others, are less likely to counter argue and become more invested in the story. That means a well-told story has the power to shift perspectives on an issue where a presentation of facts or data may not. We don’t have the power to mandate a shift in hearts and minds, but a compelling story can begin to drive that change.
Stories have the power to make the new familiar and the familiar new.
Multiple areas of academic scholarship demonstrate that we do not rationally process the world and all the inputs that come in through our senses, but we place inputs into “buckets” of what our brains have previously experienced. We often make decisions automatically based on our gut instinct and often aren’t aware that’s what is happening. Scientists call these buckets “schemas.” Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget’s work in human cognitive development classifies schema as a way of organizing information and the basic building block of knowledge. You may also be familiar with the famous metaphor American social psychologist Jonathan Haidt uses to further illustrate how we process the world: through the frame of the elephant and the rider — the elephant is the “gut level” decisions we all make, while the rider is activated in our rare activation of rational examination and conscious processing. For the vast majority of us, the vast majority of the time, we’re governed by that elephant (or what the scholar Daniel Kahneman calls system 1 thinking). Stories, when told as narratives, can often activate our existing schemas that are developed in our childhood and through the absorption of our cultures. They call into action our internal ‘rider’ (or system 2 thinking). It is intentional design of stories, activating certain schemas and juxtaposing new facts with familiar plots and metaphors, or shifting the typical plots, metaphors and images we use time and time again, that can increase familiarity or attention-driving when sharing stories.
Stories are the vessels of culture, and culture is networked.
We may think of ourselves as experiencing the culture of the organization or a society in which we work. But culture isn’t simply experienced, we also manifest and build it through our individual and collective behaviors and how we interact with others. Countless studies have documented the role stories play in defining or shifting culture. Well-built stories are fundamental to building, reinforcing, or shifting culture. Many of the challenges the ILO are striving to overcome aren’t centered on an absence of data, but focused on operating in cultures that are dissimilar to the ILO’s. A well built story could help close that gap.
Stories help place data in context and provide a way to navigate facts.
Empirical and systemic data are the very foundation of all great decisions and strategies. While the word and concept of “story” has often been connected with works of fiction, we firmly advocate that every story you tell must be grounded in truth and empirical facts; the power of stories’ structure and delivery can be activated in non-fictional use as well. Some may shy away from the use of story — it may be perceived as subjective — and they would prefer to let data do the explaining. While that is an understandable perspective, ignoring the fallacy of the argument that curated data is objective, research has shown that data without the contextual elements of story can be dangerous as it allows personal biases of those who examine the data to slip in. A metaphor we like using is one of a forest: if data are the trees of the forest and it is easy for people walking in those forests to come out at different points if left unguided, a story is the dirt path through the forest that safely leads everyone to the same exit point.
Next
How to use this guide