Articulate an idea to instigate change.

A business, a brand, a love-affair, a pop song, an aria, a novel, an insurgency, a product, a pitch, a campaign, a policy, a problem, a hypothesis, an opportunity, an answer to a question you never knew you had: this is story.

At the heart of all work is story. Story orders sensations and encodes urgency. Story defines an emphasis hierarchy and encapsulates value. Story wraps hope in a blanket of action and tucks it into your pocket ready to share.

Emboldened by language, we think we know story, but story is a mechanism hidden in plain view; our familiarity is specious at best. Yet carefully, bit by bit, we can stop listening to the story and start to pay attention to the tiny word-machine at work inside our brains.

If we want others to feel the same way we feel, our only medium is the mechanism of story.

High-level idea: Story is the reason why someone should care.

Low-down: Story is a structure you can break down into manageable chunks and the artful techniques can be learned.

Read more #designstory posts.