RISCARIO INSIDER

April 30, 2011

TELL TO WIN: PETER GUBER AND THE ART OF STORYTELLING

If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten. — Rudyard Kipling

Stories get results in everyday life but how do you compose and tell one? Entertainment executive Peter Guber comes to our rescue with Tell To Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story (Amazon unaffiliated link).

This book is packed with examples of situations where stories got results. Peter makes you more alert to the stories all around you. That's the biggest benefit.

The Hook

Watch Peter in this Harvard Business Ideacast. These few minutes were enough to convince me to get the book.

Peter Guber, chairman and CEO of the Mandalay Entertainment Group,

Stories work best when they're told to us. To my surprise, Peter doesn't read us his own book. The narrator who was selected is on the dull side.

Too Many Notes

Tell To Win is reasonably entertaining but I felt that Peter was paid by the word. A good chunk could go. The audio version is almost 11 hours long but feels more like 17.

There's plenty of self-promotion and some reinterpretation of history. For instance, Peter thinks The Deep is a great movie. He also claims that Sony was building an entertainment complex on top of Hitler's bunker in Berlin — a recipe for failure. Wikipedia says the Sony Center is nearby at Potsdamer Platz and a big success. There are some 70,000 visitors to the area daily. The book leaves these facts out.

You'll find lots of name-dropping too. If you're a celebrity-worshipper, you may like that. How did director Tim Burton get Jack Nicholson to be the Joker in Batman (1989)? What story kept audiences away from Seven Years In Tibet? What did Mohammad Ali do for 30 minutes to get his film greenlighted?

Plan A

If you're looking to change others, there's a better starting point: Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath (Amazon unaffiliated link). Switch is shorter and much more engaging. You learn practical useful tools. Is your problem with the elephant (emotion) or rider (logic)? Guess which is more powerful?

Highlights from Switch by Chip and Dan Heath

Your Stories

Will you tell much better stories after finishing Tell To Win? That's tough to say. Your stories certainly won't get worse. As a minimum, count on becoming aware of the many stories around you and their power to influence.

In the financial world, there are tales of treasure hunts, insider secrets, turning lead into gold and the fall from grace.

Stories are simplistic. They imply causality that can't be proven. Yet stories are plausible and we like them. Today's complex world may make us crave for stories more than ever ... even when we've heard them before.

Podcast 115 (3:52)

direct download | Internet Archive page | iTunes (new)

PS Do you recommend any books about telling stories?

April 23, 2011

BE PROACTIVE WITHIN YOUR CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE

You only have power over people so long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power -- he's free again.
— Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

I read that life-changing quote in high school. There's always something you can do. You may face consequences, but you're not powerless.

Not everyone agrees.

Nothing Ventured

You want it. You take it. You pay the price. — Bruce Springsteen

This week, several attendees at a seminar on leadership bemoaned shortcomings in their companies, nonprofit organizations or government departments. They felt that once their colleagues and senior people changed, life would be grand. Yet these attendees felt no responsibility to take initiative and do something themselves. If it's to be, it's up to me others.

The problems may be outside you but the seeds of change are within you.

The Right Circle

In the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey says we have a Circle Of Concern that contains a smaller Circle Of Influence. We may be concerned about fuel prices or tsunamis but we can't do anything about them. However, we can reduce the risks by buying fuel efficient vehicles and moving inland to higher ground. Why not focus within your Circle Of Influence and expand it? You can.

Feigning helplessness leads to a downward spiral. When you talk about something bad that happened to you, count on someone else telling about something worse that happened to them. Soon you have what Zig Ziglar calls a pity party.

Peer Pressure

Brian Tracy says that instead of clucking with the turkeys, soar with the eagles. The turkeys will gripe about you leaving their company. Let them.

You don't need to take in bad news. You can lead a low noise life, as I have since January 2008. You'll be less aware of the ruckus around you but you'll have more time. You'll be able to focus on what matters.

The first habit of highly effective people is Be Proactive.

Consequences

To stand up for truth is nothing. For truth, you must sit in jail.
— Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

If you believe in telling the truth as you see it, expect consequences. There are ways to get results without making enemies. Tact takes more skill and more time but works better. You may need to learn new techniques. You may even fail.

Seth Godin's latest book, Poke The Box, may inspire and empower you to take initiative. It follows 2010's Linchpin, which helps you see why and how to stand out.

Yes, you may fail. You may discover you're in the wrong place and leave. At least you will decide.
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the woe-is-me crowd. For a tree to be green, each leaf must be green. That's what George Harrison's Maharishi told him in the 1960s. What colour is your leaf?

Podcast 114 (4:21)

direct download | Internet Archive page | iTunes (new)

PS If you need a boost, watch TED videos and read Switch by Chip & Dan Heath. Mindset by Carol Dweck may help you too.