Story power

Stories change the world.
"In no other country on Earth is my story even possible," said Barack Obama, when he swept into the White House in 2008.
What supercharged Obama's story was Marshall Ganz's public narrative framework.

Ganz has been a community organiser and activist since the 1960s.
Now in his 80s, he still teaches at the Harvard Kennedy School.
His public narrative structure is a three-layered, storytelling framework to inspire collective action.

Obama used it to reach the White House.
We can use it to galvanize change in our workplaces and communities.

1. Story of Self
Our personal story; what has brought us to this moment.
Go deep and be vulnerable.
Identify the personal moments of challenge, crisis and change.
The five second moments that transformed you (check out Matthew Dicks on storytelling).

2. Story of Us
Move from "me" to "we".
Powerfully connect our personal story to the collective one.
Lay out the common ground.
What values, hopes and aspirations do we share? What binds us together?

3. Story of Now
Vividly describe the urgency, why we need to act now.
What is the choice we face? What is the moment of crisis we are in?
Without action, what unhappy ending awaits us?
With action, what happy ending is within our grasp?

Another example of Ganz's framework in action was Australia's 2017 postal referendum on same-sex marriage.
Story of Self =LGBTQ+ individuals shared personal stories about relationships and families.
Story of Us = The campaign emphasized shared Australian values of fairness and equality.
Story of Now = They created urgency around voting "Yes", which won with with 61.6% of the vote.

So:
👉 In pursuit of what positive change can you harness Marshall Ganz's framework?
👉 Where do you need to inspire followership?
👉 How can you unleash the world-changing power of story?