Autonomous Transformation

CHAPTER 20Storytelling: Leading Social Systems

Storytelling enables different swaths of the population to all care about the same issue by meeting them where they are and drawing them in.

—Liz Fosslien

As organizations disentangle from the mechanistic worldview rooted in the Industrial Revolution in favor of a social systemic worldview, storytelling rises from extracurricular to a core means of leading social systems.

In this context, the effectiveness of leaders can be predicted as a function of the quality of their vision multiplied by their ability to translate that vision into a compelling story and draw others in.

Since the development of language, stories have been foundational to social systems, creating shared meaning, belonging, and purpose. They have also been among the most powerful agents of change throughout history, forming central themes and mantras around which people have connected and taken action.

Storytelling as a Strategic Organizational Imperative

In the context of an organization, story is foundational, with conscious and subconscious influences on individual and group behavior ranging from purchasing decisions to collaboration style in meetings, front‐line behavior, and employee sense of purpose and belonging.

More than ever before, due to the ubiquity of the Internet, people are able to create and sustain connections all over the world, which equates to a new degree of visibility to other jobs, workplace cultures, salaries, and the societal impact ...