storytelling for disruptive innovators & breakthrough leaders

Storytelling for Leaders

NICK SENECA JANKEL@nickjankel

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Unleashing Breakthroughs In Leadership & LifePowered by Breakthrough Biodynamics™ switchonworldwide.com

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The Breakthrough Curriculum

A Story



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A Story



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NO!

Driving Change



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WANT TO CHANGE ANYTHING? THEN YOU HAVE TO CHANGE PEOPLE!

THEN YOU MUST CHANGE THE PEOPLE!

BUT PEOPLE TEND NOT TO CHANGE THEIR VIEWS QUICKLY OR EASILY - THEY PREFER THE

(ILLUSIONARY) SAFETY OF THE STATUS QUO

AND THE BIGGER THE IDEA, THE MORE THE RESISTANCE!

But people tend not to change their habits and beliefs quickly or easily.

They prefer the (mostly illusionary) safety of the status quo.

The bigger the change, the more the likely resistance.

Design For Survival



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Change triggers fear.

Activates stress response.

Rely on old habits, beliefs & rules to survive.

Change In The Brain



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Once the brain figures out a way of processing information into a narrative that makes sense, it

resists change.Beliefs strongly tied to values (emotions) are least

easy to change.Facts & rational argument can actually reinforce

existing emotional beliefs - The Backfire Effect

Need to drive engagement / empathy

Leadership Is Change



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ALL CHANGE MUST BE LED BY SOMEONE

People change when they are influenced, empowered & inspired by leaders who

galvanize multiple groups across networks towards the same vision

Engage



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When have you experienced a leader who has successfully enrolled people in a powerful new vision?

“The problem… was faced and a solution found… storytelling was the solution… of how to make…

wisdom understandable, transmissible, persuasive, enforceable - in a word, of how to make it stick… storytelling is something brains do, naturally and

implicitly.”

ANTONIO DAMASIO, NEUROSCIENTIST

Wired For Story



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Evolutionary advantage to plan for future and learn from past

“Human minds yield helplessly to the suction of story. No matter how hard we concentrate, no matter how deep we dig in our heels, we just can’t resist

the gravity of alternate worlds.”

JONATHAN GOTTSCHALL, THE STORYTELLING ANIMAL

HANDS: ACTIONS & HABITS

Behavioral economics & behavioral neuropsychology

HEAD: IDEAS, NARRATIVES & BELIEFS

Cognitive sciences Contemplative traditions

HEART: EMOTIONS & FELT SENSE

Affective neuropsychology Wisdom traditions

Mastering the Biodynamics of Breakthrough



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Breaking Through Self & System



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Breaking Through Self & System



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Behaviors / habits

Beliefs / thinking

Being / emotions

Processes / systems

Ideas / models

/ strategies

Culture / purpose /

values

How Story Works



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Story captures hearts and

reassures minds to create behavior change

Aristotle’s Rhetoric



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Aristotle’s Rhetoric



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ETHOS Trust & credibility

LOGOS

Logic & coherence

PATHOS Emotions & connection

Story: The Impact



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CHAMBERMAIDS TOLD THEY DO ENOUGH EXERCISE IN THEIR JOB TO

LOSE WEIGHT… LOSE WEIGHT

Story: The Impact



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REVENUES INCREASED BY 400 PERCENT WHEN FUNDRAISING CALL-

CENTER STAFF HEARD SHORT STORIES FROM END-BENEFICIARIES ABOUT HOW THE MONEY HAD MADE

A DIFFERENCE TO THEM

Story: The Impact



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$1.49 $197.50

SOURCE: SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS

ADD A STORY TO AN ITEM & IT INCREASES ITS VALUE:

13000% ROI

“When you’re conversing with co-workers, customers, or investors, the richness and

meaning of your story is what people really buy. Everybody thinks it’s the return on

investment that you’re selling...but it’s really the story about ROI that an investor takes

away.”TOM DUREL

FORMER CIO, BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD FORMER CEO, OCEANIA

The Rub



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Want to change your project? Your org? Your life? Your world?

THEN YOU HAVE TO CHANGE THE STORY!

We Are Natural Born Storytellers



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Our brains cannot deal with uncertainty so we are compelled to make stories up about

everything.

We project meaning onto the world: We see it as we want to see it, not how it is.

OUR STORIES EMPOWER OR LIMIT US

Meaning Makers



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Cancer patients who derive meaning are happier

People in grief who make sense of their loss experience less distress

Empowering stories reduce PTSD / depression in 750 Vietnam Vets.

“Those who do not have power over their story — the power to retell it,

rethink it, deconstruct it, joke about it, and change it as times change - truly are powerless, because they cannot

think new thoughts.”

SALMAN RUSHDIE

Engage



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What old story are you ready to give up?

What new story do you want to have instead?

“Leadership exists when people are no longer victims of circumstances but

participate in creating new circumstances.

Ultimately, leadership is about creating new realities.”

PETER SENGE, MIT

We Are Natural Born Storytellers



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Everyone can tell great stories!

BUT NOT NECESSARILY POWERFUL STORIES THAT CHANGE HOW PEOPLE

THINK AND ACT FOR GOOD

“It turns out stories are a - if not the - leadership answer of our time.”

TOM PETERS

Great Leaders Are Incredible Storytellers



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© 2007-2012 wecreate worldwide ltd.

The Breakthrough Value Pyramid



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DATA

Reality observed to understand problem gives us information

BREAKTHROUGH STRATEGY

Innovations turned into strategies for delivery

BREAKTHROUGH INNOVATION

Insight flexed creatively to break through problem with an idea

BREAKTHROUGH INSIGHT

Data interpreted in context of purpose to open up insights

BREAKTHROUGH STORY Strategy executed because

people are enrolled in story

PURPOSE

PROBLEM

Purpose focuses us on problems that matter

RESULTS

INCREASING VALUE & IMPACT

INCREASING SALARY!

Stories: Special Cases



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BUSINESS PLANBUSINESS VISION

BUSINESS PURPOSEBRAND

LEADERSHIP PURPOSEPERSONAL BIOCV / RESUME

The Leadership Challenge



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Engages people in a shared possibilityOpens up space for innovation & change

Explains why new story is better than old oneLocates people in ta new future

Inspires positive emotions and reduces fears Grabs attention from stressed / busy people

Meets them where they are at and takes them higherProvides a clear focus on how to change behavior and

where to contribute best

Package up our insights and ideas into a short, compelling story that:

Design Or Default?



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Design Or Default?



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Your audience do not have time or inclination to join the dots for us

In the absence of our narrative they will make one up - and it is unlikely to work for us

There is always a narrative - but not necessarily one by design

The Challenge For Innovators



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“Once we know something we find it hard to imagine what it is like not to know it.”

Chip & Dan Heath

Attention



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Core role of brain is to allocate attention.Both cognitive choice & cortisol / stress focuses

attention.Sensory distractions & emotional distractions

dissipate attention.Attention is a resource that can be used up (need

rest / rejuvenation).Meditation / nature walks / breaks replenish

attention.

Signal:Noise



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700-900% increase in cost of attention in last 20 years

We are bombarded with noise from other teams, execs, providers, advertisers etc. with

competing narratives seeking attentionSignals lost amongst the noise

Old narrative tends to crush new one before it is born

ATTENTION ECONOMY

Source: Harvard University

Empathy



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Modulated by oxytocin - increases connection and trust (in group)

Altruism less effortful than selfishness - rats will release other rates from cages without reward

Probably evolved to provide attention to youngDrives greater patient satisfaction, better clinical outcomes, decreased physician burnout, lower

risk of malpractice suits, fewer errors Negative emotions distort empathy

Story Structure



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SOLUTION

PROBLEM “In order to motivate a desire to help others, a story must first sustain attention – a scarce

resource in the brain – by developing tension during the

narrative.”

“Start every presentation with a human-scale story.”

The Narrative Arc



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Attention

Connection

Empathy + =

The Storytelling Engine



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6

BREAK THROUGH

Connection

Context

Conventions

Call to Action

Concrete Impact

Conviction

Concept

Creative Shift

The Hero’s Journey



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6

BREAK THROUGH

Problem in the real world

Hero called to adventure - refuses and leaves

Enters special word. Meets helpers. Takes tests

Problems solved

Returns to real world with boon

Fights biggest enemy - has hero integrated learning?

Tries to return with the boon - temptations and more tests

Finds the boon.

Influence & Storytelling

SWITCH ON ENGINES

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The Breakthrough Storytelling Engine Elevator Pitch Engine

CONTENTS

BREAKTHROUGH ELEVATOR PITCH ENGINE

©2016 Switch On WorldWide For use under license only

Unleashing Breakthroughs In Leadership & LifePowered by Breakthrough Biodynamics™

www.switchonworldwide.com

* Headline problem / opportunity… the most shocking facts and figures… an emotive anecdote about the pain / gain… a vision of the future… what is at stake etc.

(Connection*) . Unlike (competition) who offer (conventional

proposition) to (target audience) because they think

(assumptions) which results in (problems / fail), we have

realized that (breakthrough insights). So we offer (breakthrough

proposition) which uniquely offers (breakthrough design) and

therefore will create (breakthrough vision and impacts). To support this we invite you to (call to action).

SO-0025INFLUENCE & STORYTELLING

Storytelling For Leaders: 7 Tips & Tricks



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1. Match & Move Higher: Meet people where they are at and then take them to an elevated place

2. Keep Connected: Always sacrifice the message to build a live emotional connection

3. Paint A Picture: Drop in factoids, home truths, anecdotes, vulnerabilities, surprises. Choose evocative analogies, metaphors, imagery to frame words; Back or future cast to share a vision

4. Design The Response: What is a great result? What’s in it for them?

5. Invite Contribution: Ask questions (move to yes); Ask for input / a show of hands; Ask to take first step now

6. Own your story (with whole body): Tell it so it moves you; Hold your intention(s) in your body; Make eye contact; Smile!

7. Enjoy it and everyone else will: It’s a story not a sermon - the audience is almost always rooting for you!



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Connect with us. Challenge us. Lead breakthroughs with us.

Nick Seneca Jankel [email protected]

Europe & Australasia+44 (0) 333 011 3757

The Americas+1 415 800 4310

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