Storytelling
Story spine
Turn an experience into a structure somebody else can follow.
The shape
- Situation
- Challenge
- Action
- Result
- Meaning
A worked example
When I joined, our delivery process was fragmented. The main challenge was that three teams used different tracking methods. I introduced a common workflow. Within two months missed handoffs fell sharply. The lesson for me was that process clarity often matters more than adding people.
What usually goes wrong
Keeping detail that does not carry one of the five parts. Detail that carries nothing is what makes a story long rather than good.
Used in
Where this shape does its work in a real situation.
Practise it
Knowing the shape is about ten minutes of work. Running it while somebody senior is looking at you is a different thing, and that is what these are for.
Mostly serves Message, and reaches into Connection.
A framework tells you what shape the answer takes. It cannot tell you whether shape is what you are short of, and for most people it is not. Which one is yours, and whether a framework is the right instrument at all, is what a Discovery Call is for.
Take the AssessmentOr read the whole glossary first.