Storytelling may not be the whole story

Though many would blame the advertising industry, responsibility for one of the biggest recent trends in the business world undoubtedly dates back thousands of years, to campfires and tribal gatherings. We are, of course, referring to storytelling. Human beings have such a strong taste for the narrative arcs of conflict, tension and resolution that even people we might otherwise admire for a singular talent – actors, singers or athletes – nowadays often come with a heart-tugging backstory.

If our mystical faith in its power isn’t enough, neuroscientists have given us scientific evidence: the voodoo is real. Tell us stories, they have shown, and our brains produce cortisol (making us attentive), oxytocin (which makes us empathise with the characters), and dopamine, the human feel-good factor. No wonder CEOs adore them: who doesn’t want to be listened to, empathised with and loved?

But if this sounds like we’ve finally found our ticket to Sunny Uplands, take a moment of two to consider the idea of stories. If the synonyms listed at thesaurus.com don’t ring any alarms, the antonyms might. One opposite of ‘stories’ is ‘truth’. Something that didn’t escape Oscar Wilde when he wrote:

“The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.” 

The kind of stories that business likes to tell are more like fables or parables: ambiguous or complicating details are stripped away so that a lesson – often a moral one, loosely speaking – can be delivered. Given the reasons that business likes to tell stories – typically, to inspire, persuade or convince – there is a tendency towards happy endings that can feel forced, especially with repetition. Stories are sweeter than Weetabix: one is usually enough…