Transformative Storytelling

Lee-Sean Huang / ls@foossa.com / @leesean
Transformative
Storytelling
 
Lee-Sean Huang
@leeseanFOOSSA

Everyone has a story.
Everyone is a storyteller.
@leesean@leeseanFOOSSA

@leeseanFOOSSA
“Storytelling comes naturally
to humans, but since we live
in an unnatural world, we
sometimes need a little help
doing what we’d naturally do.”
- Dan Harmon, Writer

Who am I?
Who are you?

Lee-Sean Huang / ls@foossa.com / @leesean@leesean@leeseanFOOSSA

6
Lee Sean

What’s the story behind
your name?

What’s the story behind
your company’s name?

User
Experience
Strategic
Storytelling
Community
Management
Movement
Building
Community
Centered
Design
Lee-Sean Huang / ls@foossa.com / @leesean@leeseanFOOSSA

10
We research behavioral,
cultural and technological
insights to identify
opportunities for innovation.
RESEARCH

11
We advise and train teams in
community- centered design,
storytelling, and social
innovation.
STRATEGY

12
We craft brand experiences
and build business models to
grow communities, shape
cultures and scale enterprises.
DESIGN

Why are you here today?

WHAT?
HOW?
WHY?

Every THING has a story.
Artifacts tell stories too.

16Lee-Sean Huang / ls@foossa.com / @leesean
Artifacts

Cultural
17Lee-Sean Huang / ls@foossa.com / @leesean@leeseanFOOSSA

18
https://sugru.com/
The Blue Lace Project

19
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/
jakehimself/the-bluelace-project-a-
revolution-built-one-foot-a
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/nov/19/
news/la-ar-blue-lace-project-20131119

Ask your partner the story
behind an object/artifact
that they have.

Why Storytelling?

@leeseanFOOSSA
“The #1 business skills for the next 5 years”
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20130802112108-7374576-this-will-be-the-1-business-skill-of-the-next-5-years
- LinkedIn
“A strategic tool with ‘irresistible power’”
https://hbr.org/2014/03/the-irresistible-power-of-storytelling-as-a-strategic-business-tool/
- Harvard Business Review
“The major business lesson of 2014”
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239142
- Entrepreneur Magazine

@leeseanFOOSSA
“A company without a story is usually
a company without a strategy.”
- Ben Horowitz, Co-Founder, Andreesen Horowitz

24
Elements of (Narrative) Strategy
@leesean
* Purpose
* Plan
* Sequence of Actions
* Measurable Goal
@leeseanFOOSSA

25
Elements of (Narrative) Strategy
@leesean
* Purpose
* Plan
* Measurable Goal
Narrative/Story
@leeseanFOOSSA

@leesean
* Purpose
* Plan
* Measurable Goal
* Narrative
@leeseanFOOSSA

Developing a Narrative Strategy
@leesean
1. Current State: Where are you now?
2. Desired State: Where do you want to be?
3. Document and Share. Visualize.
4. Prioritize.
5. Simplify.
6. Test. Recalibrate. Repeat.
@leeseanFOOSSA

Stories
help us make sense of the world
help us deﬁne our identity
help us connect with each other
are the building blocks of culture{http://www.psychologytoday.com/collections/201106/the-power-stories/direct-hit

http://www.journeyofhearts.org/kirstimd/tellstory.htmLee-Sean Huang / ls@foossa.com / @leesean
Clay Shirky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyeihMTB2mE feature=share t=19m35s
“Stories organize our sense of reality.
Stories are how we process facts.
Stories are like food we consume that
helps us turn into who we are.”
@leeseanFOOSSA

Dr. Kirsti A. Dyer
http://www.journeyofhearts.org/kirstimd/tellstory.htm
“Storytelling is a part of life, intrinsic
to most cultures. They help people
make sense of the world--life's
experiences, dilemmas and hardships.
Stories can educate, inspire and build
rapport. They are a means of
communicating, recreating, and
helping preserve cultures by
translating memories into a more
concrete manner that can be handed
down verbally or in written form.
Telling the story can provide the
opportunity to gain a deeper
understanding of one's experiences
and oneself. “
http://www.psychologytoday.com/collections/201106/the-power-stories/direct-hit
http://www.journeyofhearts.org/kirstimd/tellstory.htm
@leeseanFOOSSA

What have I done with
stories?

35

37

38
http://emuscampaign.org/
@leeseanFOOSSA

43

Stories are personal.

Marshal Ganz
Handout: Telling Your Public Story Worksheet
Telling Your Public Story
A good story public story is drawn
from the series of choice points that
have structured the “plot” of your life
– the challenges you faced, choices
you made, and outcomes you
experienced.

Marshal Ganz
Elements of a Public Story
A story of self: why you were called
to what you have been called to.
A story of us: what your
constituency, community,
organization has been called to its
shared purposes, goals, vision.
A story of now: the challenge this
community now faces, the choices it
must make, and the hope to which
“we” can aspire.
@leeseanFOOSSA

49
http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/
We are the 99%
@leeseanFOOSSA

50
http://wearethe15percent.com/post/52232149870/in-may-cheerios-posted-this-new-commercial-on
We are the 15%
@leeseanFOOSSA

Stories embody values.

52
Manifesto

Our Values
We believe that increased participation by
youth and members of the emerging middle
class in the political process will help bring
about greater accountability and transparency.
We are non-partisan and independent. We
don’t accept money from government or
political parties.
We believe that the internet can serve as a
school for a more robust democracy.
We are committed to open source sharing.
We value remix and reuse.
@leeseanFOOSSA

What are your
brand’s values?

Stories have shapes.
Stories have structures.

1
strong
start
2
emotional
climax
3
desired
outcome

@leeseanFOOSSA
Problem-Solution
Opportunity-Obstacle-Choice

@leeseanFOOSSA
FOR____________
ONLY___________
BECAUSE________
http://www.markpollard.net/how-to-position-your-business-in-3-sentences/

What is the shape/
structure of your story?

Ira Glass
2 Basic Building Blocks of a Story
(1) The anecdote
(2) The moment of reﬂection
In a good story you need both -- you can
flip back and forth between the two. The
Anecdote and the Moment of Reflection
are interwoven to make a story.
http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2007/03/ira_glasstips_o.html

Ira Glass
(1) The anecdote, a sequence of actions, a
story in its purest form, one thing following
from another (rather than just disjointed
"facts").
"The Power of the anecdote is so great...No
matter how boring the material is, if it is in
story form...there is suspense in it, it feels
like something's going to happen. The
reason why is because literally it's a
sequence of events...you can feel through
its form [that it's] inherently like being on a
train that has a destination...and that
you're going to find something..."

Ira Glass
(1a) Raise questions.
Provide the "bait" (the hook) The anecdote
should raise a question right from the
beginning. Implied in any question that you
raise, however, is that you are going to
answer it.
Constantly raise questions and answer
them. The shape of the story is that you
are throwing out questions and answering
them along the way.

Ira Glass
(2) The moment of reﬂection.
What is the key point? What does this all
mean? Why have I asked you to sit and
listen for 30 min, etc. It is not just a series
of facts/events.
Many people get the first part, they tell an
interesting sequence of events, but in the
end it fails because it doesn't say anything
new, it did not have meaning. And
sometimes people have the reflection part
and the question is clear in their mind, but
they fail to put it in a sequence that
compels people to follow and engage.

Share an anecdote.

Stories can be condensed.

Charlie Brown is finally invited to a
Halloween party; Snoopy engages the Red
Baron in a dogfight; and Linus waits patiently
in the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin.
@leeseanFOOSSA

Charlie Brown is finally invited to a
Halloween party; Snoopy engages the
Red Baron in a dogfight; and Linus waits
patiently in the pumpkin patch for the
Great Pumpkin.
—Logline for It's the Great Pumpkin,
Charlie Brown
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

A 17th Century tale of adventure on the high
seas where a roguish yet charming captain
joins forces with a young blacksmith in a
gallant attempt to rescue the Governor of
England's daughter and reclaim his ship.
@leeseanFOOSSA

A young man and woman from different
social classes fall in love, must outwit her
abusive fiancé, and find a way to survive
aboard an ill-fated voyage at sea.
@leeseanFOOSSA

Narrative: Movement Loglines
77
Tea Party
Freedom is under assault
in our country.We will
band together to restore
freedom in America.
Slow Food
Started as a protest
against McDonald’s in
Rome, we are now a
worldwide movement
advocating for good,
clean, fair food.
Occupy
From NYC and around the
world, we are fighting back
against the corrosive power
of major banks and
multinational corporations
over the democratic process.
@leeseanFOOSSA

6 word stories.
“For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.”
https://twitter.com/sixwordstories

Same story.
Different audiences.

@leeseanFOOSSA
How would you tell your story to:
your
customer
your
investor
your
grandma

Transformative Storytelling

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