These posts were published in 2009-2011 on wediscoverstories.com. Having established my perspective on Community, it seems only appropriate to also provide a vision for ‘story.’
A dictionary would define ‘story’ something like this:
Story: noun: a narrative, either true or fictitious, in prose or verse, designed to interest, amuse, or instruct the hearer or reader.
However, it seems to me there is something much more significant at work in ‘story’ than a simple, well-formed narrative.
In 1978, writer Reynold Price wrote a book called A Palpable God, which sought to offer tangible translations of 30 biblical stories. While considered a treasure in its totality, its introductory essay is of great relevance for this discussion.
Price writes,
“A need to tell and hear stories is essential to the species Homo sapiens—second in necessity apparently after nourishment and before love and shelter. Millions survive without love or home, almost none in silence; the opposite of silence leads quickly to narrative, and the sound of story is the dominant sound of our lives.”
It’s easy to imagine a day not that long ago [everything is relative] where the free and open Community ‘story’ provided the context for all human interaction. Because there was no written record, there was also no author. All interaction contributed to a rich oral history that was owned, authored and immediately amended by all that participated. Simply by virtue of the act of retelling [think: word of mouth] did an individual become part of the Community ‘story’. Within this context, ‘story’ transcended mere ‘tale’ and became the foundation of communication and Community.
Contrast that with the handwringing nature of corporate ‘story’ that exists within traditional marketing and advertising. We have stripped the community nature of word of mouth, provided it authorship/ownership and made it exclusive. With trademarks and copyrights, we have provided ourselves some semblance of consistency and continuity, but for whose benefit? The stories being told today are less authentic than ever before. People find few advertisements to be trustworthy in any sense. Even the fictional parables contained more truth than most advertisement copy.
Where the story once belonged to the Community, in marketing today it only belongs to the corporation (and perhaps their advertising agency.) Except in the most extraordinary situations (consider the freedom given to users of the Obama logo in 2008), when a brand evangelist chooses to make a brand or story their own, they are usually greeted with a form letter or worse encouraging them to remove materials or return them to their ‘brand standard’ format. What do we sacrifice in this process?
The oral tradition understood that a ‘story’ needed to be personalized and evolutionary in nature. The core didn’t change, but the outer details needed to remain open to adaptation for its survival.
We are searching for clients and partners that are prepared leave behind the mentality of individual authorship and begin the process of returning to collective storytelling. By returning ownership and authorship to the Community, we create a bond and loyalty that’s transformational in nature.
Modern marketing is so temporary. We see a television commercial that tickles our funny bone one moment and leaves our mind the next. We find the thousands of advertising impressions we see daily to be hyperbolic at best and offensive at worst.
On the other hand, stories in their traditional sense transcend time. They are committed to memory and told and re-told again and again. We share them with friends and family who make them their own. The story becomes our story.
Which approach to story do you think would have the most benefit for you and your Community?