What’s Your Story? by Ryan Mathews and Watts Wacker Summary

Book Summary: "What’s Your Story?” by Ryan Mathews and Watts Wacker

History is replete with stories of heroes and villains, demons and destroyers, about love and life. We are surrounded by myths and legends. Thousands of years ago when human beings looked up at the night sky, they discovered animals among the stars and wove stories of courage and victory around them. Stories about businesses and brands are no different.

According to the authors, Ryan Mathews and Watts Wacker, a true story is not the same as the ‘Truth story’. The essential difference between the two is the capacity to convey emotion and human endeavor as against statement of facts. Mythical stories about heroes and their superhuman strength and power have no doubt been woven out of facts, but certainly an aura of invincibility has been added by the imagination of the author.

The book “What’s Your Story” describes how corporate culture and branding can be eulogized with the help of stories. Stories essentially must have some ingredients to make them interesting and plausible. They must reveal the origin or answer the question, “Where did it all begin”. These stories often begin with “Once upon a time there was ……..”. Many describe the relationship between an individual and society at large.

The most crucial part of any story is the end. What are the lessons learnt? What are the rewards? Is it damnation or salvation? Victory or defeat?

Another important issue is the context in which the story has been written. The authors comment that the present day world does not offer this context because of many reasons. Partly free availability of information on internet is to be blamed for the loss of naiveté. Rampant consumerism and greater marketing challenges have also been blamed for this lack of context. Businesses and corporate therefore find it difficult to anchor their success stories with relevant context.

The Five Recurrent Themes in Storytelling

The book “What’s Your Story?” describes five recurrent themes in storytelling:

The Hero’s Quest
This theme is the most common in fantasy stories. The hero ventures out into the bad bad world, encounters villains and situations which require courage to overcome. In the end he vanquishes the enemies or in some cases perishes in his quest for glory.
Creation Stories
Human mind is complex. There is a constant search for our origins. Where did we come from? Who were our ancestors? These are some questions which occupy our time. Stories woven around creation attempt to throw light on the glorious past.
Stories of Transformation
A classic example of this kind of story is “Dr. Jackal and Mr. Hide”. In this fascinating story a good man is transformed into an evil person.
Fall and Redemption
This theme is often found in Judeo-Christian traditions. For example, Adam being thrown out of the garden because of a misdemeanour.
Myth of the Crossroads
This is another favourite theme. The hero is standing at the crossroads and he has to take a call on the path to take. The choice would decide his fate.

Applying Storytelling to Business and Branding

Essentially the authors argue that corporate branding can be elevated to higher level of creativity by using the symbolism of stories. Small and insignificant events in the life of a company can assume larger than life proportions if handled by a master storyteller.

The theme of hero’s quest can be developed to create interesting stories about the entrepreneurial spirit of the founders. These stories would elevate the founders to a position of a hero.
The creative story would expound on the beginning stages of a company. How did the company come about? Such stories can enthuse employees and create images of mythical proportions.
Transformational stories describe how their company achieved success by adopting new methodologies.
Crisis stories are easy to find since every corporate entity goes through cycles of glorious profits and pitiable losses. These stories can help to keep the employees in good spirit during downturns.
Stories about crossroads abound in our modern business environment. The newspapers are replete with stories of CEOs taking over and changing the fortunes of a company for the better.

The stories are equally applicable to industries, corporations, brands and individuals. The emphasis is on creating believable stories which others can empathise with. It is not necessary that they be true. But an element of context is necessary for the stories to ring true.

Stories involving human characters create empathy and are therefore useful to mould opinion of employees. Understanding the audience is a prerequisite in any form of storytelling. A story written for children may not appeal to adult audiences and vice versa. The stories should be topical and must address some important issue.

The resolution of a story usually indicates mind of the storyteller. A positive, victorious and triumphant hero is always appreciated. Creating stories about corporate culture should take these factors into consideration.

But create stories one must.

Also read: Book Summary for Getting Things Done by David Allen

Also read: 8 Habits of Highly Effective people by Stephen Covey Summary

Also read: Getting To Yes Book Summary And Analysis

Also read: Ghosts of The Silent Hills By Anita Krishan Book Review

Also read: Difficult Conversations Book Summary And Analysis

Also read: Built To Last by Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras Book Summary