Narrow Way Cafe

Orphangelical

“You meet saints everywhere. They can be anywhere. They are people behaving decently in an indecent society.”

Kurt Vonnegut

“Every saint has a past, every sinner a future.”

Oscar Wilde

The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They fail to alter their views to fit the facts. Instead, they alter facts to fit their views.

Dr Who.

Storytelling. One Path Centrism Must Embrace.

Dgg

We must hear stories before they can be retold.

I’m a passionate storyteller; that one of the compelling aspects of change initiatives is collecting and retelling stories. More precisely, I mean that it requires relating opposing views through understanding. I know this is essential.

However talking too much is a character defect I have to be conscious of. One must hear stories, before they can be retold.

So… FYI, this teaser about being affirmed in my convictions recently, particularly by a this fellow: Kevin Hartman. He has had a remarkable tenure in his role as “Chief Analytics Evangelist” at Google.

​”​Stories make people care. To get the response you’re seeking, you’ve got to understand your audience’s point of view. That means thinking about how your data project might affect them.​”​

A link to his 2020 Book “Digital Marketing Analytics…” which may sound dry, but it’s not to me!

One must hear stories before they can be retold.

In April I was communicating with a group about how to help their cause, writing:

“A perfect role for me would be researcher and writer of stories. Blogger / Vlogger. I would travel around, visiting constituents and collecting their accounts. This would function as a wide eye on a broad range of issues, documenting and publicizing all the stories folks need to have shared, lending a sense of legitimacy. Then, I’d work gathering groups of citizens together to hear the stories and address causes at local levels. The (sponsoring NPO) would be a mothership organization that is powered by attraction and focused on action. We would germinate empowered grassroots subgroups and resources to act in concert (but almost without direction) across what may be now perceived as boundaries. Issues must not be painted from single perspectives.”

I think this is true for me now more than ever. As an end of career technologist and manager, perhaps the most impactive roles I can serve will be to gather and tell stories.