why every company should write a book
DESCRIPTION
History belongs to those who write it and every company, win or lose, should write a book.TRANSCRIPT
“When you see a successful company,someone once made a courageous decision.”
Peter Drucker
Why every company should write a book
Steve Job’s boyhood home
History belongs to those who write it.
Every business should write a book. Winor lose, good or bad, the story remem-‐bered will be the one that is wriEen. Andonly through wriEen history can we hopeto capture the context and reality in whichideas and businesses unfold.
Stories are the currency of human rela-‐Hons and businesses are constructed onthe foundaHon of those relaHonships –people doing, sharing, exchanging, trad-‐ing, creaHng, succeeding, failing, growing.Every business is a crucible filled with in-‐spiraHon, intrigue, tension, discovery, rev-‐elaHon and laughter. It’s a great story.
“Those in leadership posiHons who fail to grasp or use the power of
stories risk failure for theircompanies and for themselves.”
John KoEer,Harvard Business School
For those who did it
Gold watches, plaques and bonuses arefine tokens of appreciaHon and requisitereminders of a job well done. But stories,etched across Hme, are the most endear-‐ing, enduring and indelible way of remem-‐bering and recognizing those who did it.
They deserve to be on the record. If not,the decision as to what will be remem-‐bered is leT to driTing memories and theerrant winds of Hme.
“It takes a thousand voicesto tell a single story.”
NaHve American saying
For those who follow
When future generaHons ask, “What hap-‐pened?” “How?” “Why?” the story shouldbe clear and their percepHon undistorted.
To ensure that the reality is properly re-‐flected in the conversaHons of tomorrow,it is imperaHve that we leave behind a pic-‐ture that cannot be misunderstood or mis-‐construed. Or worse, forgoEen.
“Books are lighthouses erectedin the great sea of Hme.”
E.P. Whipple
For celebraHon
Perhaps you can celebrate achievmentand anniversaries with a champagneparty, but for how long? Tomorrow theparty is over and the champagne bubblesfizzle with the memories. Besides, the ac-‐cumulated years and business accomplish-‐ments are worth more than paperstreamers and forgeEable speeches.
A fleeHng celebraHon is confeY in thewind, it cannot capture the foundaHonalroots, deep convicHons and personal com-‐mitments that not only built the businessbut keep it running everyday. The best wayto honor a business is to tell its story andensure that the celebraHon never ends.
“A good book has no ending.”R.D. Cumming
Big or small, there’s always a story
Apple was once small, seeded in SteveJob’s garage (see front cover). Today, weknow the rest of the story but we couldnever have understood Apple’s incrediblejourney if Steve had not leT us with the“real story.” Time passes; stories endure.
Big companies have big stories, reachingback in history, a history that is easily for-‐goEen or muddied if someone doesn’trecord what actually happened. It’s bothan obligaHon and a responsibility. Andsmall enterprises in pursuit of growthneed to conHnually create relaHonshipswith new customers and there is no beEerway than to tell them your story. All of it.
“Being the richest man in thecemetery doesn’t maEer to me.”
Steve Jobs
“It is your obligaHon to speakthings that have truth, becausethis is your life’s work.”
Judith Black
If not now, when? If not you, who?
A book brings coherence to the endless ac-‐HviHes of business and pulls into focus therich experiences that have aggregated into something that is greater than itsparts.
A company lives through its people – cus-‐tomers, employees, shareholders, suppli-‐ers, communiHes. Its story is their story.But it is ephermeral, a thousand untoldstories spread across a rolling landscape,unheard in the cluEer and chaos. Unlesssomeone brings those tales into the lightof day as a lasHng memory. Only then doesit become an ineffacable asset, a benchmarkworthy of its Hme and place in the sun.
How it works
“Stories are the single most powerfulweapon in a leader’s arsenal.”
Howard Gardner, Harvard University
We tell business stories everyday – aboutour brand, quality, goals, commitments.About what we do, how we do it, why wedo it. We fill the ether with them, in ourblogs, ads, brochures, and on our web-‐sites, Facebook, TwiEer, Pinrest, etc. etc.But amid the noise and haste, what sHcks?
A book, by its very nature “demands” at-‐tenHon, a moment to consider it. Unlikeanother “me-‐too” brochure, blog post orweb page, a book has a sense of gravitas. Itelevates the story; it sustains the story.
A book can come in all shapes and sizes. Itcan be one book with one story or a bookof short stories. Or a series of short bookswith different stories – different brands,products, messages, customers.
Stories not only speak of history, they cre-‐ate it. Throughout cultures and across mil-‐lennia, stories have formed our beliefs,values and aYtudes. Fables, parables anda natural narraHve are the meanderingriver that supports civilizaHon’s sea of ide-‐ological precepts, economic principles,patrioHc verve, social mores and com-‐sumpHve behavior.
A story bound in a book commands thehigh ground and makes a promise: read,learn and enjoy. It imprints an ineradicblepicture in the mind and an inimitable feel-‐ing in the heart and allows each reader tobeEer understand what was, what is andwhat might be.
Why it works
“Our species thinks in metaphorsand learns through stories.”
Mary Catherine Bateson
“WriHng maketh the exact man.”Sir Francis Bacon (1561-‐1626)
Meet David HughesAuthor and ghostwriter
David has wriEen nine books, hundreds ofblogs and countless arHcles. He is aWriter’s Digest winner of Award of Meritfor FicHon (Sacred Corrup9on) and Non-‐ficHon Magazine Feature. His wriHng cov-‐ers a broad landscape, from businessbooks and family memoirs to novels andcurrent event blogs.
David will transform your thoughts, ideas,experiences and knowledge into a com-‐pelling story – packed with informaHon,insight, learning, understanding and heart.
It’s worth talking about. Give him a call.
905-‐885-‐[email protected] www.straightspeak.com
More books about wriHng books and blogs
Your Story Is A Gi.Why everyone should write a book
Blog, blog, blog, blah, blah, blahHow to rise out of the
oblivion of the blogoshpere
“Live” from the Consul?ng FieldsHow to write a Fieldbook in real-‐Hme.The ulHmate business reality book.
They are quick reads. Read at David’s webite: www.straightspeak.comOrder free copies: [email protected]
905-‐885-‐[email protected] www.straightspeak.com
David H. Hughes — ghostwriter
“‘Once upon a Hme,' lasts forever.”Philip Pullman
From the garage to Wall Street, business is adrama, a comedy and someHmes a tragedy,played by larger-‐than-‐life characters. It’s astory that should not go unrecorded, a talethat should not go untold.