"We’re trying to build a bridge: we have one foot in the world of story and one foot in the world of business. We ourselves might be able to see the importance of storytelling in business, but how can we communicate that to a hard-nosed business community?"

Word count: 744 words (reading time 3 - 4 minutes)

Storytelling in Business - Bridging the Gap

I have a problem.

My work is to bring alive more story making and storytelling in businesses and organisations, and in the community at large.

That’s not the problem.

I’m putting the new website together.

That’s not the problem either.

The problem is this: how can I even begin to articulate on a website all the value that lives in stories and storytelling in business?

Since you’re reading this, I’m guessing that you have an interest in bringing story to the modern world in general or the business world in particular, and you share my difficulty. We’re trying to build a bridge: we have one foot in the world of story and one foot in the world of, say, business. From where we stand we can see the importance of bringing story work to the business community, but how can we communicate what we’re trying to do in a way that clearly serves the needs of a 21st Century community with modern goals and imperatives, and yet in a way that also honours the creativity and richness and soul and humanity of the world of story? How can we make it practical without breaking its heart?

And what words can we use when the word ‘story’ seems frivolous to the people we want to engage with?

Maybe the way ahead lies in considering the world of story and story making, and storytelling in business in particular, from some different perspectives. Maybe then we’ll arrive at a place where we can talk about the benefits of working with story in its widest sense. You’ll have your own viewpoints, no doubt, but here are some I’m playing with at the moment…

One the one hand, the old stories bring us lessons and insights and new perspectives, and they can provoke us into facing ourselves and our reality in new and interesting - and even challenging - ways. A ‘lens on life’, if you like.

On the other hand, how much richer life could be if people felt more confident to speak their truth - to stand up and tell their own stories, loud and clear at work, in their communities and at home. That’s the ‘art, craft and confidence’ of being on your feet and speaking.

On the other hand (yes, that’s three hands - but we’re in the realm of stories here and three hands is just fine…) there’s the creative process of storymaking: simple story rules can be a wonderful safety net when we’re playing with imagination and new possibilities. Here lies a great freedom for the deepest parts of ourselves to fly unbounded in safety. The world of story offers us both ‘form and freedom’, whether we are putting together a presentation, making a point at a meeting or chatting with the new client over a coffee.

And on the other hand (um, four hands then…) story is more about listening than speaking: one voice may speak to many ears. And the art of listening seems to have been lost along the way somewhere. How much conflict could be eased if we could find it easier to set our own inner stories aside even for a few moments, and pay attention to the stories that are real for the people around us. Well used, a story approach can help to foster ‘engagement and change’ in a way no other approach can.

It’s hard when we hold a truth to be self-evident: we just expect everyone else to believe us and are surprised when they don’t ‘just get it’! Maybe now, though, I can start to ask the questions from someone else’s point of view. Only then can I start to dig down deeper into the story world and find the stories there that will help to open up some fresh minds to what story can do for people and communities, in business and otherwise.

So that’s my experiment at the moment: four qualities at the heart of story. Can I bring the warm, sustaining pulse of story alive once more in the minds of people for whom story is just for kids, and who I have never met? And the only tools I have are electronic words presented on a computer screen.

But I know I’m not alone in my work because you are reading this. And that gives me courage - or heart, perhaps, if you like.