Meet my new best friend, “Illuminate: Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols.”
Really. Start with the 10 case studies—compelling/memorable—guaranteed to keep you off your $1,000 iPhone. Next, the gorgeous fold-out book summary—bound between pages 58 and 59. And the big idea: “Movements follow a story structure.”
And here’s the structure—five actions:
--Dream (the moment of inspiration)
--Leap (the moment of decision)
--Fight (the moment of bravery)
--Climb (the moment of endurance)
--Arrive (the moment of reflection)
The authors, Nancy Duarte and Patti Sanchez, have shared their firm’s trade secrets and they didn’t hold back: 321 pages of inspiration, how-to, more inspiration, more how-to, and practical detail and head-nodding context—with dozens and dozens of delicious aha! moments.
Here’s what struck me—immediately. My old school approach (30 years as a CEO):
--Identify a problem, crisis, or opportunity.
--Leverage my intuition and best practices portfolio.
--I like to write—so leverage my writing tools. (Others, I noticed, like to speak—so they leveraged their oratory to warn or inspire the troops.)
--Apply my preferred tools to the situation.
--Done!
Guess what? It didn’t work that often.
But there’s still hope for you. The book’s “Communication Toolkit” tutors leaders and managers across a fascinating array of tools and action steps. Much like Ecclesiastes 3, there is a season for everything. “There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth…” (MSG).
Example: Picture a five-column grid and column headings of Dream, Leap, Fight, Climb, and Arrive. Then visualize four horizontal rows: Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols.
When should leaders use stories versus ceremonies? When you’re in “Fight” mode, you have two options: “Overcome the Enemy Story” or pull out your “Come From Behind Story.” But maybe…a speech would be more appropriate—like the “Underdog Speech.”
Whew! It’s all here—a toolkit, the science, the nuances, and the rich non-technical content. I’ve never, ever read a book like it. You may already employ some of these methodologies, but perhaps driven more by the coolness factor rather than a 30,000-foot intentionality.
The case studies (and mini-stories) are stunning. Example:
"Illuminate" highlights Airbnb’s beginnings, when cofounders Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky responded to a hotel room shortage in San Francisco:
“Brian and I both quit our jobs to become entrepreneurs…[but just then] our rent went up and suddenly we found ourselves unable to afford our apartment…. That same weekend a design conference was coming to San Francisco that was so big all the hotels had sold out in the city…. We started to think creatively: What if we were able to blow up an air mattress, put it in our living room, and rent it out to designers who need a place to stay for the conference? We could go so far as to cook them breakfast, and by the end of the night we had this concept called Airbed and Breakfast…. Within 24 hours…we had people who started writing us from all over the world who wanted to stay in our living room. We made a thousand dollars and they saved our apartment.”
In the Executive Summary (available online), the authors warn: “Change Is Critical.” They add, “Businesses can choose to embrace change or ignore it—but they cannot stop it. When a company chooses not to change, the industry simply evolves past it. To thrive, organizations must continually reinvent themselves by imagining and implementing new initiatives.”
Then this:
--“40% of newly created companies last less than 10 years.”
--“50% of Fortune 500 companies will be replaced by new companies in 59 years or less.”
Is your mission/movement/cause stalled, plateaued, or declining? This book will help.
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Profound
Do you believe that the stories you tell can change the world? What if I were to tell you that they already are, and you've been telling them your whole life?Every day we tell ourselves stories that either tear us down or build is up."This world is getting worse and worse and there's nothing that I can do to change it. I can't even change myself..."We believe this negative narrative so strongly that they literally create the reality we live in. So what do we do? The key is to tell ourselves a better story. One where we're the hero. One that ignites passion and change in ourselves and those around us."I have a dream..."This book just came out and I'be already read it through twice-- scribbling notes like a mad man and underlining so much of the pages that it probably defeats the purpose. I'm using it as the blueprint for my life and our organization. And it's working.If you're tired of books that tell you what's wrong with the world, but don't tell you how to walk it out or, if they attempt to, it reads like someone's doctoral thesis, then you need to get this book. Don't let another day pass you by. It will change your life.
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Top reviews from other countries
Sebastian Cavanagh
muy frustrante....solo una repeticion de sus otros libros
Reviewed in Spain on April 4, 2019
Amazon Customer
Tapped into a primal format of human communication
Reviewed in Canada on March 14, 2016