I’ve been fascinated by the power of stories in the most diverse contexts. Be it while inventing a crazy tale for my kids (fun, specially when the kid loves surreal random stuff and girl loves consistency… a delicate balance), or during a presentation as an analogy or stage setting, sometimes during meetings to convey a strong message.
All cultures use stories. We are naturally hardwired, so it seems, to understand stuff through a narrative. It may be the best way ever invented by humankind to transfer implicit knowledge.
The Pixar story style is one vehicle to lay down a story. It uses a structure we can infuse with action, drama, suspense and humor. It goes like this (one of Pixar 22 rules):
Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.
I suggest you try this now for yourself. For something happening you need to share.
Katina, the impala and the tree, some rights reserved
One of my own I wrote while walking around Maputo for my older princess as an example:
Once upon a time there was an impala. Every day, she would jump over lions and sometimes would hit a tree, she found out trees are hard. One day, impala asked a giraffe what should she do to prevent hurting trees (and most of her frontal body). Giraffe said: “Change direction every jump”. Because of that, impala stopped hitting trees. Because of that, more trees survived. Until finally, giraffe had more leaves to feast upon.
Dan Pink has written a great book on this and other topics (clarity is a must) around selling ideas – a critical skill nowadays.
ITIL Blues 