This is an episode from the marketing launch of Storyteller Tactics, written with the help of Hero & Guide and Drive Stories
This has all worked out well, very well.
Ravi didn’t actually tell Emma she’s acting like his rebellious little sister, within the “family” of the company. But that was the story in his head. Rebellion is inevitable, he told her.
We all need to push against authority as we develop our own way of doing things. But rule-breaking has a downside too, and “the Rebel” can easily slide into “the Cheat”.
A week of careful cat-herding later… Emma has accepted that breaking rules pisses people off, so has to be done rarely and carefully. Finance have accepted that clients love Emma’s rebellious streak. And the boss has accepted that Ravi’s team needs a lot more autonomy now that they’re working remotely.
Ravi feels like he’s gone from guilty ten year old to wise old Sage in the space of a week.
I should grow a beard, Ravi thinks, a nice grey one.
This week’s Storyteller Tactics
Drive Stories
We use stories to work out what makes people around us tick. Daniel Pink argues that we’re not motivated by money, but by the desire for greater mastery, purpose and autonomy at work. This plays out in Ravi’s story as:
Emma realises she needs to master office politics. Finance realise the greater good, the purpose behind the rule breaking. The boss realises he needs to let go, and give Ravi more autonomy.
Hero and Guide
You’re not always the hero of your own story. In Star Wars terms, sometimes you’re not Luke, you’re Yoda. So, what kind of Yoda do you want to be?
Ravi chose the Sage role, because he values wisdom and understanding. He persuades the others to learn something new about themselves.
One of the few newsletters I look forward to.
— Dave Cunningham, Head of DesignOps @ NHS
