The Storyteller’s Promise

A Manifesto by Rebecca Solnit. Edited (with apologies to the author) to fit the Art Of It style. Or lack there of. Stories surround us like air. We breathe them in. We breathe them out. The art of being fully conscious in life means seeing the stories and becoming their teller. And not letting them […]

How Movements Spread

Once there was a little girl who loved yo-yos. Nancy loved the way they twirled. She loved the tricks they did. She loved the way she could control them with just a flick of her wrist. One Monday morning Another kid brought his yo-yo to school. To him it was just another toy. It was […]

How To Build A Storytelling Culture

Natalia is a 15-year-old girl who lives in a small village in Mozambique. It is amazing how much of her life revolves around water. Waiting on water Each morning, after caring for her six brothers and sisters, she walks with pails to a riverbed miles away. When she get there she stands in line, waiting […]

Oh, The Wonderful, New Places You’ll Go

Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away!   You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go. […]

Modern Movements, #MindTheDigits

By Sam Stern Sam Stern is CEO of MagnifyGood, a communications consultancy that magnifies the good of social sector programs by improving the value of their communications efforts  Creating change After the initial news of Harvey Weinstein’s longtime abusive practices spread across the globe, an innumerable amount of stories began piling up. For almost two months, the […]

Ten Things A Movement Needs

Through the oppressive heat, and humidity, and driving rain they came. Traveling in their luxury limos, and the family sedan they came. Celebrating in their fancy, streamlined motor coaches they came. Crowded into rickety, old school buses and church vans they came. In broken down VW buses and specially scheduled trains they came. From the […]

Empathy: The Overlooked Secret

By Mark Clevenger Mark Clevenger is the President of Clevenger Associates, a marketing research consultancy specializing in human behavior. Empathy is for practical people The question: “Knowing our customers is important, but isn’t empathy getting into la-la land?” Mangers worry. How can we improve efficiency? Detours are the enemy. Stay focused. Find the quickest path […]

Empathy, Experiences, Stories, Oh My

Joe is walking down a street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can’t get out. A doctor passes by, and Joe shouts up “Hey you! Can you help me out?” Sympathy The doctor writes him a prescription, throws it down the hole, and moves on. Then a priest comes […]

The Pillars Of Tribe Connections

Everybody loves a good pillar. They’ve been around for ions. You’ve got your Doric pillar. And your Gothic pillar. There’s always your Ionic pillar and your Corinthian pillar. Not to mention the ever-popular Tuscan. A short history of pillars Traditionally, pillars have been used to hold up buildings. But in modern times, pillars apparently hold […]

What’s A Tribe?

Human beings can’t help it. We need to belong. One of the most powerful of our survival mechanisms is to be part of a tribe. To contribute to and take from a group of like-minded people. We are drawn to leaders and to their ideas and we can’t resist the rush of belonging and the […]