From Weighty Industry Reports To Emails To Long-lost Friends, We Tell Stories Every Day. Good Storytelling Can Make Our Work More Enjoyable, Writes Cividep Founder Gopinath Parakuni
Why do we like good stories? There are many reasons. Some stories are funny and make us chuckle in delight. Sad stories make our hearts go out to those who suffer. There are mysteries and puzzling plots, and some very frightening ones too. Maybe, not very often though, we also find traces of ourselves in fictional characters.
We all might remember the storytellers in our lives. Most often they would be teachers who had made boring subjects interesting. ‘Grandma’s tales’ is a popular expression, though not often used in an appreciative spirit! Also, it is a mystery as to why there are not many ‘Grandpa’s tales’. Then there are the wandering storytellers, a disappearing tribe whom many of us would have seen in rural areas. They would tell stories from the past and sometimes break into songs.
News reports are called ‘stories,’ at least in English. Why? Could it be that when we describe an event or an incident, we are telling a story? Perhaps even when we share a seemingly mundane experience we have had on the streets or at the market, we might be telling stories. Otherwise, why do our friends listen at all?
Of course, there are good storytellers and boring, monotonous ones. Yet, in our everyday lives, we seem to be constantly sharing stories. Are weighty reports about low wages in manufacturing industries, stories? Let us stretch it a bit further and ask whether when we want to reconnect with a lost contact and write her an email, are we telling her a compact story of the intervening period?
Importance of a good yarn
Is storytelling important in the kind of work we are doing? Would better storytelling help us to do our work more enjoyably and to derive greater satisfaction from whatever we accomplish? I think the answer is ‘yes’ as the act of conveying our thoughts and observations to others gives us more clarity and leaves us free to tackle complex issues.
Sadly, at some point in our lives and our careers, we seem to have consigned stories to a dimly lit corner of our minds. Because of all the important things that we need to address and work through, week after week, we may have stopped listening to and telling stories. And that could have some effect on our ability to be good listeners.
Have we stopped listening to stories? Well, we watch a lot of movies and serials on TV, and sometimes at multiplexes. They surely qualify as stories. Maybe those who are active on social media are telling stories and reacting to the posts of others. Does it take media production companies and huge investments to tell stories? Our human impulse to create and share stories seems to have atrophied due to the marketplace of stories.
When and why have we given up the mesmerizing pleasure of reading (and retelling) stories? It’s time to revive the habit of telling a good tale. And that would be a worthy New Year resolution
(An Occasional Column On Life And Non-Profits.)
