A521.2.3_SienkiewiczRaymond

Chiamamanda Adichie's talk on the danger of the single story presented an interesting second side to the coin that is storytelling. Although her talk dealt a great deal with what one may ordinarily see as considerations that must be taken in working with or around stereotypes, it could tie into springboard stories and general leadership story telling in rather interesting ways.

Adichie throughout her talk noted how different places (usually countries) could come loaded with certain baked in perceptions or stereotypes with a foreign audience. For instance, she once held particular perceptions about Mexico, and her roommate had view of Africa that alluded more to tribal culture or being removed from certain standards of living. Although a stretch, thinking back to Denning's elements of a springboard story that include stating a specific time and place, the mental image held of Seattle in the 2006-2010 time frame might vary greatly between myself as someone who resided in Seattle, and someone who's never been there and grew up in Dallas. Or, I can say that my friends from Portland hear about Biloxi, Mississipi (or frankly most any place in the south) and they have a difficult time thinking of anything positive about the experience of living there, let alone passing through. In short, even small elements such as place or the central protagonist can come loaded with the audience's perceptions and cause a distraction from the main message, especially if any of the audience members are prone to some of the listening blocks noted in the "Messages" text such as Judging, Dreaming, or even Identifying from past negative experiences.

The same could very well be true for the deliver of the message if they aren't being mindful of their storytelling, and a good storyteller might want to be aware of their personal biases before making a delivery. One piece of advice dropped by Whalen in "The Professional Communicator's Toolkit" is to "be a two-edged knife"...that is, touch on both sides of the issue. According to Whalen, this allows for your presentation to be more balanced and demonstrates consideration of multiple viewpoints. While this idea might be more difficult to apply mid-sentence in a presentation, it might be worth some thought for the leader that is trying to think of a springboard story to add to their tool kit. Overall, the overall process might include some final "proof-reading" questions such as what kind of reactions will come from the different elements (for better or for worse), and does this story cover the issues presented from all the angles?

Although it adds some extra steps to the process, Adichie does have a point with her talk on the single story. To tell one story from one perspective is probably the cleanest, simplest way to present a story so long as it is well tailored to the audience and the purpose for telling it. However, if not well vetted or if applied too much further beyond the boundaries of the story, there is the possibility of secondary effects that may form or reinforce a negative "single story," and set the stage for potential friction or otherwise when the exception(s) to the story story makes itself apparent. The leader would, therefore, best serve their people by being relevant and on point, but perhaps having a repertoire of stories to draw upon or at least being cognizant of the single stories that may be at play.