To change the story we have to ask ourselves: Which stories define cultural norms? Where did these stories come from? Whose stories were ignored or erased to create these norms? What new stories can we tell more accurately describe the world we see?
I really really like this article (really :)) because it makes a very subtle, but very HUGE distinction about what happens when people hear stories: "It’s one thing to say ‘reading stories makes us see pictures in our head’...we cannot simply visualize the story on a movie screen in our heads, we must simulate it ... The significance of this study to social change stories is important. It suggests there is no such thing as a passive audience."
Bascially the author discusses recent research that says that not only do listeners hear the story, they reenact it in their heads. In the book Influencer; The Power to Change Anything (2007), the studies those authors discuss say the same thing. That if you want someone to change -- a behavior, attitude, way of doing things -- stories are the second most powerful tool to do that right after direct learning experience.
This is huge -- and is the key to change efforts being successful -- whether it is within a company or in social justice endeavors.
The only thing I wanted more of in this article are more examples. And I want to know more details about the 'narrative power analysis model' the author references.
Other than that, there are many good points in this article, so don't miss it!
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