Storytime

Humans use stories to extract meaning from our experiences. Inherent in the act of storytelling is the chain of cause and effect. “The king died and then the queen died” is a statement of fact. “The king died and then the queen died of grief” is a story.

The ability of story to create meaning makes it a powerful tool--and a dangerous one. Just by making something into a narrative, we make it seem more real. That apparent realism can draw us closer to the truth, or it can lead us astray. That’s why it’s so important to examine the stories we tell ourselves, and to test their assumptions.

Whenever we set out to solve a problem, we define that problem by telling ourselves a story. Behind the problem we hope to solve is an identified goal: a desire for a certain outcome. That goal will be pursued by certain people: the heroes of our story. And in order to reach that goal, those people have to overcome certain obstacles: the trials and challenges.

In order to define the problem accurately, we have to describe these three elements as clearly as possible. What is our goal? Who’s responsible for solving this? What obstacles do they need to overcome?

This initial definition will have a huge impact on which solutions we consider and try to implement. The biggest cause for ineffective problem-solving is a failure to fully and accurately describe the problem. 

As a leader, one of your primary functions is to tell the right stories, and to make sure you and your team are reading from the same page.