Today we focus on stories. Chapter 6 of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die completes the journey through the six attributes that make ideas sticky. A quick definition of a story from ChatGPT is “ a narrative that presents a sequence of events or experiences.” Stories present us with how we overcome challenges, make connections, and the impact of experiments. They link people and emotions and are a fixture of human culture since the dawn of time. In very stark terms, stories are a source of wisdom and power.
I have been using role-playing exercises as a training tool for years. I have recently merged my approach with a more formal Coaching Dojo approach from Bob Galen’s book Extraordinary Badass Agile Coaching. Role-playing allows a small group of people to tell a collaborative story: to simulate a scenario in a safe environment. Simulations allow a person to build a mental image of how something happens. If re-enacting a scenario that has occurred, simulations are a form of intimate retrospective. If simulating an upcoming event it provides a test environment. I often role-play conversations and meetings before they happen so that I can practice “what-if” scenarios. This can also provide a form of inspiration.
Suggesting the idea of telling stories can be off-putting in a corporate environment. I heard someone call it unprofessional. But calling storytelling, shoptalk, sharing experiences, examples, or even role-playing shifts the negative perception. Shoptalk is a powerful form of storytelling. I meet with a group of Scrum Masters to sync up on practices. Each session begins with the participants sharing successes and failures: storytelling. Shoptalk builds bonds between people that work independently. The sharing provides information that each person can use when solving problems in the field.
The authors highlight studies that show it was more useful to replay or imagine events, blow-by-blow, when simulating an event. Visualizing a future positive outcome isn’t effective. Simulation engages the brain and lets you evaluate the stimulus and manage emotions. This chapter reinforced my belief that both retrospectives and important events need to be mentally played out. Mentally preparing by running through simulations of a talk or meeting, helps with problem-solving. NOTHING ever goes exactly to plan when there are people involved. Gaming out the event gives you ideas on how to deal with triggers when that trigger pops up. In essence, you’ve already had the experience, in your mind. I might not be living in the moment, but if I am presenting to a key stakeholder I want to make sure I am as ready as possible.
Not sold on stories and simulations? If you have ever flown on a commercial airliner, one of the reasons you feel safe is that pilots tell stories (talk shop) and use simulators to practice. The authors point out that flight simulators are a tool to put stories into a framework that can be repeated and studied over and over.
One final takeaway from this chapter, stories are a tool to help defeat the curse of knowledge. The act of reframing information into a story is useful for creating an empathetic bridge. Telling a story (well) puts the teller into someone else’s shoes which changes their perspective and assumptions.
Stories, whether found or manufactured, are useful and impactful. Note, I will return the “idea” of manufactured stories when we wrap up the book. When tied to the other factors for stickiness discussed in the book, simple, stories are more powerful. The combination is a table stakes for something to be viral.
Logistics note: We have approximately three weeks left on this re-read (Epilogue, Additional Content, and wrap-up) then we are off to L. David Marquette’s book.
Buy a copy of the book and then catch up on this re-read:
Week 1: Announcement and Logistics – https://bit.ly/46tn5Bz
Week 2: Introduction – https://bit.ly/46CLmp1
Week 3: Simple – https://bit.ly/3PZLWaq
Week 4: Unexpected – https://bit.ly/43zfkaB
Week 5: Concrete – https://bit.ly/3qcn1Gg
Week 6: Credible – https://bit.ly/3Yo9aJo
Week 7: Emotional – https://bit.ly/3QCAQbx
