es more valuable is the ability to place these facts in context and deliver them with emotional impact. Stories exist where high concept and high touch intersect. This need is spawning the nascent movement called organizational storytelling at World Bank, NASA, even XeAfter hearing Daniel Pink speak about his new book A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age for the fourth time, I finally read it cover to cover (less than a day). I finally got what he's talking about when he says jobs that are high touch are here to stay. That is, jobs that builds relationships between business and client whether it's B2B or B2C. To that end, he advocates that we incorporate more storytelling into our relationships, that we make a point with a story, not just facts which everyone knows they need but still find boring. The reason is that stories are easier to remember. He goes on to list some of our contemporary characteristics distinguishing stories from facts:

Facts illuminate..........Stories amuse

Facts reveal..............Stories divert

Facts are for real........Stories are for cover

With the easy access to facts however, facts have become ubiquitous, available at the speed of light because of the internet and search engines like Google. So each fact becomes less valuable. What becomes more valuable is the ability to place these facts in context and deliver them with emotional impact. Stories exist where high concept and high touch intersect. This need is spawning the nascent movement called organizational storytelling at World Bank, NASA, even Xer

ch are here to stay. That is, jobs that builds relationships between business and client whether it's B2B or B2C. To that end, he advocates that we incorporate more storytelling into our relationships, that we make a point with a story, not just facts which everyone knows they need but still find boring. The reason is that stories are easier to remember. He goes on to list some of our contemporary characteristics distinguishing stories from facts:

Facts illuminate..........Stories amuse

Facts reveal..............Stories divert

Facts are for real........Stories are for cover

With the easy access to facts however, facts have become ubiquitous, available at the speed of light because of the internet and search engines like Google. So each fact becomes less valuable. What becomes more valuable is the ability to place these facts in context and deliver them with emotional impact. Stories exist where high concept and high touch intersect. This need is spawning the nascent movement called organizational storytelling at World Bank, NASA, even Xe

ows they need but still find boring. The reason is that stories are easier to remember. He goes on to list some of our contemporary characteristics distinguishing stories from facts:

Facts illuminate..........Stories amuse

Facts reveal..............Stories divert

Facts are for real........Stories are for cover

With the easy access to facts however, facts have become ubiquitous, available at the speed of light because of the internet and search engines like Google. So each fact becomes less valuable. What becomes more valuable is the ability to place these facts in context and deliver them with emotional impact. Stories exist where high concept and high touch intersect. This need is spawning the nascent movement called organizational storytelling at World Bank, NASA, even Xe

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Facts are for real........Stories are for cover

With the easy access to facts however, facts have become ubiquitous, available at the speed of light because of the internet and search engines like Google. So each fact becomes less valuable. What becomes more valuable is the ability to place these facts in context and deliver them with emotional impact. Stories exist where high concept and high touch intersect. This need is spawning the nascent movement called organizational storytelling at World Bank, NASA, even Xe

es more valuable is the ability to place these facts in context and deliver them with emotional impact. Stories exist where high concept and high touch intersect. This need is spawning the nascent movement called organizational storytelling at World Bank, NASA, even Xerox. It is even being used in branding advertisement on TV.

And as Mark Turner says in his book The Literary Mind, "Most of our experience, our knowledge and our thinking are organized as stories".

Why am I telling you? Here's Daniel Pink's answer: "Story is having another important impact on business. Like design, it is becoming a key way for individuals and entrepreneurs to distinguish their goods and services in a crowded marketplace."

So I wanted to share with you a story I heard last week. I like this story for three reasons: 1. it's a story out of Wal-Mart's success. 2. we can each apply it as a mini-self-assessment. 3. it's inspirational. I hope you like it too.

At Wal-Mart, in the beginning, everyone would start as a bagger, bagging the customer's purchases. Employees were monitored on a number of criteria. They were assessed on their attitude toward the job, attitude toward the customers, when they arrived for work, when the left, their enthusiasm for the job, contribution to the company and the company mission, etc. Sam Walton c