Stories over stats

Stories help us find new ways of looking at things.

Dee Hock thinks this creates much greater innovation than new ways of doing them. He is right.

The most compelling stories show us things hidden in plain sight. They persuade us to action.

Most successful storytellers know this. It’s no wonder Chimamanda believes that most stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign. But stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people. But stories can also repair that broken dignity.

What Chimamanda didn’t say is that while most stories matter, only the most compelling ones will people pay attention to. The most compelling stories evoke emotions. They inspire. They create tension. They cause a ruckus.

The most compelling stories show us the uncomfortable truths about who we are and why we do what we do. They give words to the experiences we can relate to and explain those experiences better than we might.

But they also help the storyteller. They help the storyteller grow in perspective and imagination. They unnerve areas where ignorance still resides. Because to tell a story, you have to understand and believe it first.

The best stories win. Not the best ideas, not the best tech, and sadly, not even the best policies. But the stories we tell ourselves about them.