People are Seduced by Stories

[TED talk video. Running time 17:49]
I was reading an interesting article in The Economist Market.view section about what keeps growth investors going, despite the market disappointments. We buy stories. People are seduced by stories.

Tell me a great story and I will be totally captivated, to the point of believing that the story can be true. Substitute growth stocks with the day to day activities that are part of what makes a life - and what you have is stories. Stories are made of language, and language makes the world we live in. Nigerian writer Chris Abani says that “what we know about how to be who we are" comes from stories. 

What are the stories we tell ourselves about us?

Now let's go back and take a look at the story of growth, compare it to that of value. What do you see? The story of value is not as sexy as that of growth, yet when represented side to side, it is clearly the winner. Yet, growth investors keep going.

Is the story of growth the same one we tell ourselves about our business?

Comments

[Mike Wagner]

What is amazing about this post is that I'm the first one to comment on it!

The questions you raise about "growth", "value" and the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves are exactly the ones every business out to be fully aware of.

Now you've got my mind racing a 100 miles an hour!

Keep creating,
Mike

[Valeria Maltoni]

Thank you for taking the conversation to the next level, Mike. If there is one thing I have learned about the social media movement is that it is transforming marketing - and business.

I think everyone was already going 100 miles an hour and did not see the post.