20: Phase 3 - Construct an Outthinker Culture
Krippendorff speaks of the "profound value of narratives" and suggests that "scientists" say that 94% of human behavior is determined by the stories we remember in dealing with daily challenges.
(EN: Which is a bit casual, but does have support in the comparison of semantic and episodic memory. That is, when facts are placed in the context of a narrative or scenario, they are much easier to recall when a similar situation arises than are facts that are artificially schematized. The 94% seems like a gross exaggeration, however, and he does not cite his source.)
He gives the example of a fishing village in the Pacific, in which the people have no access to communication technology and cannot receive warnings of an incoming Tsunami. However, there is a folktale in their culture that people remember. In essence, it tells them that when the ground shakes, do not run out to collect the fish that are stranded by the receding water, but instead run for the hills because a huge wave is coming.
The story has nothing to do with the scientific details, as it is a folktale that correlates to primitive beliefs in the supernatural, but it is functional as a procedure for avoiding danger. More importantly, the salient details are the same (whether it is he gods or geological events), so the story teaches people what to do, even though the rationale is completely fictional.
In the present culture, we are fond of using data - scorecards, dashboards, and the like - which take facts and information out of their natural context and place them in an artificial one. This may make them briefer, but it does not make them more memorable. To the point in the first paragraph of this chapter, it makes them less.
This is why effective leaders embrace the strategic narrative - a story that is not efficient in presenting facts, but are effective in getting people to remember principles that will enable them to recognize and react appropriately. These stories are critical to building a culture.
Common Misconceptions about Narratives
The author suggests a number of reasons that leaders fail to consider narrative, or reject its use. The list is certainly not comprehensive, but deals with some of the more common misconceptions.
Primarily, there is the mistaken belief that something that is easy to consume (a bulleted list of facts without details) is also easier to remember. Given the findings about semantic and episodic memory, this is clearly not true.
There is also the unreasonable demand for blind faith from their followers: that subordinates will do as they are told without the need to understand the reason they should do so. This may be effective in some cultures, but Americans are far too individualistic and suspicious of authority to fall into the role of a blind servant.
There is also the idea of the hard-nosed leader, and the sense that storytelling is too congenial for the world of business. The author merely gives examples of a few successful CEOs who were widely regarded as excellent leaders, and who relied heavily on storytelling as a means of communicating and persuading.
There is also the notion that "case studies" tell of exceptional and unusual cases, which are misleading and inapplicable outside of the specific conditions of the case. This may be true in some instances, but not all: industry literature and textbooks often use case studies to describe situations that are not uncommon and solutions that are not idiosyncratic.
(EN: For the rest of the section, the author provides examples of instances in which leaders used narratives to change the behavior of an organization - nothing useful, but examples may be useful in selling the concept to the reader.)
Strategic Narratives
Three kinds of narratives are presented:
- Deep Narratives - Stories from the past that create meaning, such as the biography of a leader or a history of a company. These stories reinforce culture by suggesting that the present and future are to be a continuum following the past.
- Planning Narratives - Stories that project from the present into the future, suggesting how specific actions taken today will result in a better situation in the future.
- Strategic Narratives - Stories that illustrate principles that may (or may not) be derived from past experience, but which suggest ways of behaving in future that are not linked to a specific plan.
He also suggests that the duration of the plot can be telling. A "deep narrative" tells the story of a decade or more, a planning narrative perhaps three to ten years, and a strategic narrative tells the story of a moment (EN: this seems too arbitrary)
The strategic narrative is the extension of an adage. To tell someone "never ask a barber if you need a haircut" communicates a basic principle, but if it can be placed in a narrative of a familiar situation - letting a supplier tell you what you ought to buy from them - it will be more easily remembered.
Strategic narratives can also be useful in giving people adequate information. Consider the principle of "diversity" which most businesses claim to embrace, but then ask them what that means and they will struggle to provide an answer. Teach the concept in the context of a story, and the meaning will become clearer.