TIME FOR A NEW STORY?
For the past twenty years, we at Storywise have been engaged in an
amazing experiment. We have had the chance to apply what we know about stories to
help emerging leaders from conflict and post-conflict zones of the world. Our
goal was to help them design and grow better stories to shape a better future.
It has been one of the most challenging commitments of our lives. We have
learned so much and unlearned so much more. By stealth, “that same old story”
creeps into almost every innovation, threatening every chance of a Brave New
World. Our experience resonates with what Lincoln wrote in December 1862 as the
Civil War opened so badly for the Union forces and he called the nation to
embrace a new story:
“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.”
Whether it be emerging leaders of Northern Ireland and Ireland
or the post-Mandela generation of South Africa, or the embattled voices of
Palestine/ Israel or the local volunteers of AmeriCorps Project CHANGE, we have
evolved a method that we sum up with our mantra-“If you want to change the world, you have
to change the story.” After two
decades in this living laboratory and seeing our graduates emerge to serve at
every level, including the highest offices of their nation, we are often asked
to capture what this NSL- New Story Leadership method is all
about. So here it is.
Being a recovering English teacher, we thought the simplest way would be to
take each word or phrase and parse it for what we mean. We hope it conveys a
sense of the energy behind this work and inspire you to apply it in your life.
Right now, we seem to be so stuck in old narratives that don’t work, and yet, seem
paralyzed to move into anything better. That is “the story” at least, and while
it seems to aptly describe our dilemma, this manual will teach us that stories
are less descriptions of reality and more prescriptions of possibility. If we say we can’t, we won’t. If we say we
can, more than likely, we will.
Paul Costello BA
Dip Ed. B.Th. BD. MFA
Founder and President- Storywise.com- New Story Leadership Inc-
Director AmeriCorps Project CHANGE Montgomery
at The Center for Narrative Studies- Washington DC.
July 4th 2019