The power of a positive story

One of the most common uses for corporate storytelling in to create Lessons Learned documents.  I have nothing against that, since Lessons Learned docs are valuable tools for continuous improvement.  But what is too often forgotten is the power of a positive story.  Now I don’t mean Best Practice stories, though they are often positive in that they talk about a successful process in the hopes that the process will be copied and repeated.  The positive stories I’m thinking of, though, are bigger, bolder and not just designed to talk about a good way of doing a single task or process.  Instead these stories talk about the corporate direction as a whole, the corporate goals and the successes that are helping the company get there.

I’ve been thinking about this kind of story for a while, but I decided to write about it after reading 2 blog posts.  The first, “What's up librarian?” is from a new blog by a friend of mine in which she discusses the idea of a Yes Session, a brainstorming session in which, among other requirements, the word NO is banned from the discussion.  The second was an entry in the A Success Experiment Blog entitled “Create that winning feeling.”  The last line of that post sums up perfectly the importance of positive stories:

A winning feeling is a positive feeling, and one that forgets misses and reinforces successful attempts

And that’s what positive stories do.  They talk about what we’re doing right, and where doing things right will lead us.  It’s the sort of story that inspires people to do better.  It’s the sort of story that you see so often at the top of best seller lists.  It’s the sort of story that Barack Obama used to win an election (I’m not trying to make this a political blog, but how many of you remember what facts he gave vs. what stories he told?)  It’s the sort of story we should all use every day to inspire ourselves and others.

So here’s an experiment I’d like you to try.  Make a list of everything you’re working on.  Next to each item write at least 1 way that this project will help the organization achieve one of its strategic goals.  If you can’t immediately make that connection work at it a little bit.  Ask around and find that connection, even if it is a bit of a distant one.  And it doesn’t have to be a benefit to the bottom line, either, just something that supports a broader initiative that ties into your organizations goals, because it’s those connections that will make the story matter.

Once you’ve created this list, whenever anyone asks you “what have you been up to” (or any variant of that question) tell them about one of your projects and why it matters.  Try as much as possible to apply the Situation, Task, Action, Result format.  Encourage others around you to try this too.  It might seem a little strange at first but I think you’ll be surprised at the positive feeling you’ll get when you start talking about how your work matters.  In any case let me know how it goes.