by Colleen Ponto
I went to see the movie Avatar Sunday night with my husband--a rare event for me on two counts: (1) seeing a movie, and (2) being with my husband without our kids. According to my three children,
this was a "Mom, you have to see this movie" movie. So I went.
Even though I am not an appreciative fan of science fiction, violence, or special effects, Avatar may just be one of those transformational films, a film that shifts human consciousness. There were so many systems principles embedded in Avatar. Concepts such as "everything is interconnected," "every solution creates new problems," "nothing exists independent of its relationships," "waste = food," "there is no 'away,'" and "information (or feedback) is the fuel of life" were key messages of this film. And one final systems principle came to mind as I left the theater--"you can never direct a living system to change, you can only disturb it." Avatar certainly was a "disturbing" movie.
During the car ride home, I asked my husband lots of questions about James Cameron, the director of the film (since I am not a moviegoer, I know very little about anyone in the film industry)--about who he is, his character, his political views, etc. He didn't know. And then in yesterday's Seattle Times, I found the following quote from James Cameron, a statement he made at the Annual Golden Globes Awards that addressed some of my questions:
"Avatar asks us to see that everything is connected, all human beings to each other, and us to the Earth. And if you have to go four and a half light years to another made-up planet to appreciate this miracle of the world that we have right here, well, you know what, that's the wonder of cinema right there, that's the magic."
Another systems thinking educator has successfully landed on center stage. Bravo, James Cameron, Bravo!
Colleen Ponto, Ed.D., teaches at Seattle University, where she is a core faculty member of the Organization Systems Renewal Graduate Program, which specializes in helping adult learners to become designers and leaders of systemic organizational change. Colleen is also an independent educational and organizational consultant. One of her current passions is teaching systems thinking to learners of all ages.
By Janice Molloy
[Because of a glitch with our blog hosting service, this post was never distributed to our email subscribers. We are reposting it so they might receive it as well.]
"If you don't feel it, you won't remember it." Author and executive coach Bob Dickman made this provocative stat
ement during a recent conversation, and it has stuck with me ever since. My assumption has always been that an effective argument--especially in the business world--involves a clear, logical presentation of facts delivered in a relatively engaging manner. But research shows that embedding information in the context of a story makes it more memorable and, ultimately, more powerful.
In A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink states, "Stories are easier to remember--because in many ways, stories are how we remember." Psychologist Jerome Bruner has found that people are 20 times more likely to remember a fact if it is part of a story than not. This is one of the reasons Pink identifies "Story" as one of six aptitudes that are crucial for professional success and personal satisfaction in the world of the near future.
But framing material in terms of a dramatic plot with compelling twists and unexpected turns is only part of the picture. The other element that plays a role in making a tale "sticky" is emotion--hence Dickman's quotable quote at the beginning of this posting. In their book The Elements of Persuasion, Dickman and Richard Maxwell use the following definition: "A story is a fact wrapped in an emotion that compels us to take an action that transforms our world."
Dickman and Maxwell point out that most Americans vividly recall when and where they were when they first heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center, because it was such a shocking and painful event. (I still have a crystal-clear image in my mind of holding my infant son in our backyard and looking up at a brilliant blue sky, silent and still because all air traffic had been grounded.) Researchers have documented many of the biological and chemical processes through which strong emotion makes a memory stand out.
The tricky part, of course, is applying these principles in the hard-boiled world of organizational life. Maxwell and Dickman sum up the business case for storytelling: "Telling them [customers, colleagues, bosses] stories, and listening to theirs, is the best way to promote your products, services, and ideas. . . . Stories are the irreducible core, the fire, inside every business." The key is that, by punctuating our talks and writing with heartfelt examples that illustrate key points, we ensure that the important messages we want to share are understood, absorbed--and unforgettable.
Janice Molloy is content director of Pegasus Communications and managing editor of The Systems Thinker.
photo of fire: Ian Britton/freefoto.com
By Janice Molloy
"If you don't feel it, you won't remember it." Author and executive coach Bob Dickman made this provocative statement during a recent conversation, and it has stuck with me ever since. My assumption has always been that an effective argument--especially in the business world--involves a clear, logical presentation of facts delivered in a relatively engaging manner. But research shows that embedding information in the context of a story makes it more memorable and, ultimately, more powerful.
In A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink states, "Stories are easier to remember--because in many ways, stories are how we remember." Psychologist Jerome Bruner has found that people are 20 times more likely to remember a fact if it is part of a story than not. This is one of the reasons Pink identifies "Story" as one of six aptitudes that are crucial for professional success and personal satisfaction in the world of the near future.
But framing material in terms of a dramatic plot with compelling twists and unexpected turns is only part of the picture. The other element that plays a role in making a tale "sticky" is emotion--hence Dickman's quotable quote at the beginning of this posting. In their book The Elements of Persuasion, Dickman and Richard Maxwell use the following definition: "A story is a fact wrapped in an emotion that compels us to take an action that transforms our world."
Dickman and Maxwell point out that most Americans vividly recall when and where they were when they first heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center, because it was such a shocking and painful event. (I still have a crystal-clear image in my mind of holding my infant son in our backyard and looking up at a brilliant blue sky, silent and still because all air traffic had been grounded.) Researchers have documented many of the biological and chemical processes through which strong emotion makes a memory stand out.
The tricky part, of course, is applying these principles in the hard-boiled world of organizational life. Maxwell and Dickman sum up the business case for storytelling: "Telling them [customers, colleagues, bosses] stories, and listening to theirs, is the best way to promote your products, services, and ideas. . . . Stories are the irreducible core, the fire, inside every business." The key is that, by punctuating our talks and writing with heartfelt examples that illustrate key points, we ensure that the important messages we want to share are understood, absorbed--and unforgettable.
Bob Dickman will be exploring these ideas in depth in an upcoming webinar, "Getting Heard Above the Noise."
Janice Molloy is content director of Pegasus Communications and managing editor of The Systems Thinker.
photo of fire: Ian Britton/freefoto.com