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Tell me a fact and I’ll learn.
Tell me a truth and I’ll believe.
But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.
~ Ancient Proverb
How to leverage the power of stories?
A thread ...
Tell me a truth and I’ll believe.
But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.
~ Ancient Proverb
How to leverage the power of stories?
A thread ...
Much has been written about the dominance of Amazon and Bezos’ success secrets.
But one less discussed fact is Bezos' access to not just cheap but *patient capital.*
Do you know, Amazon raised $2.1 billion from investors before it broke even?
How did Bezos do it?
But one less discussed fact is Bezos' access to not just cheap but *patient capital.*
Do you know, Amazon raised $2.1 billion from investors before it broke even?
How did Bezos do it?
One key ingredient for startup success is moving capital and resources. For that you need people.
And people are moved by stories.
Bezos tells stories — to his customers, his employees and his investors.
And people are moved by stories.
Bezos tells stories — to his customers, his employees and his investors.
Earth’s Biggest Store,
Lower costs,
Bigger selection,
Faster delivery
Amazon’s stories are simple but what turns them compelling is Bezos' talent for making crazy ideas sound as bold initiatives.
Lower costs,
Bigger selection,
Faster delivery
Amazon’s stories are simple but what turns them compelling is Bezos' talent for making crazy ideas sound as bold initiatives.
The history of story telling goes back a few hundred thousand years ago when Homo Sapiens was an obscure *startup species* trying to gain traction from a remote corner of East Africa.
So how did it become the most dominant species on the planet?
So how did it become the most dominant species on the planet?
Yuval Harari attributes this phenomenon to one human trait — the ability to believe in shared narratives and myths.
http://amzn.to/2n3Z9zT
And every myth starts with someone telling a very compelling story.
But the trouble with stories is ...
http://amzn.to/2n3Z9zT
And every myth starts with someone telling a very compelling story.
But the trouble with stories is ...
that people remember the story and forget the message.
Chinese whispers (or telephone) — a game we’ve all played in childhood — demonstrates that humans are terrible in transferring the original message as it is.
Chinese whispers (or telephone) — a game we’ve all played in childhood — demonstrates that humans are terrible in transferring the original message as it is.
A disproportionate chunk of a leader’s time is often spent in communicating the same things to different groups in the organization, repeatedly.
Yet, by the time the message reaches the soldiers, it gets distorted and misunderstood.
Yet, by the time the message reaches the soldiers, it gets distorted and misunderstood.
Read Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholder and you’d realise that he understood this problem very early on.
Bezos consciously used tricks to fight the Chinese whispers problems inside Amazon.
He did it by exploiting how humans remember information.
Bezos consciously used tricks to fight the Chinese whispers problems inside Amazon.
He did it by exploiting how humans remember information.
Inspite of being a poor messenger of information, our minds have preference for certain formats.
There is a whole science behind what makes certain messages more sticky than others. https://amzn.to/2By86Na
There is a whole science behind what makes certain messages more sticky than others. https://amzn.to/2By86Na
There must be a reason why most of ancient Indian texts were written in form of verses — with rhyme and rhythms (RR).
RR allow humans to compress and recall a message with greater accuracy than normal prose.
RR allow humans to compress and recall a message with greater accuracy than normal prose.
Bezos strength as a communicator is his ability to encode Amazon’s strategies in very concise and memorable forms.
He knows how to compress the message to tattoo it on the brain cells.
Eugene Wei wrote a brilliant piece on this. https://www.eugenewei.com/blog/2017/5/11/jpeg-your-ideas
He knows how to compress the message to tattoo it on the brain cells.
Eugene Wei wrote a brilliant piece on this. https://www.eugenewei.com/blog/2017/5/11/jpeg-your-ideas
Every year since 1997, Bezos concludes his letter to shareholders with the same words —
"It’s still Day 1 at Amazon."
There’s even a building named “Day 1” in Amazon campus.
"It’s still Day 1 at Amazon."
There’s even a building named “Day 1” in Amazon campus.
Bezos applies his compress to impress strategy at every level.
Even when he’s talking about specific strategies, he uses memorable and unique phrases. E.g. —
Resist Proxies
High-velocity decision making
Disagree and commit
Even when he’s talking about specific strategies, he uses memorable and unique phrases. E.g. —
Resist Proxies
High-velocity decision making
Disagree and commit
Some people learnt this trick from Bezos.
In Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg came up with — Move fast and break things.
In Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg came up with — Move fast and break things.
Two things you can take away from this long thread —
1. Tell stories to move people.
2. Preserve the message by compressing and coding it into
memorable phrases.
Mark Forsyth's book is a good resource for constructing memorable phrases. https://amzn.to/3eWEg3h
1. Tell stories to move people.
2. Preserve the message by compressing and coding it into
memorable phrases.
Mark Forsyth's book is a good resource for constructing memorable phrases. https://amzn.to/3eWEg3h
I delivered a talk on this topic for the team at @ConsultSynconic.
Here's the video version of talk.
Here's the video version of talk.
