Tags: team-work, rocks, conflict Working in teams can be hard. In the process of working together, we can disagree, stall and face major setbacks. However, when a team comes together and gets across the finish line it can be great. The story Mark shares this week gives a useful analogy that can help teams get […]

Tags: big-difference, small-things, checklist Small things can make a big difference. That’s the theme of this episode of Anecdotally Speaking. In Episode 20, Twists and turns of a flying fortress, we hear how a checklist saved Boeing from going under and offered a key advantage to the US Army in World War 2. It’s a […]

Tags: persistence, hard-work, experts, mining It takes a lot of hard work and persistence to do something great. Naturally, if the goal is a big one it’s going to be harder to achieve. You just don’t want to give up and find out that you were close to achieving it. This week, Mark tells a […]

Storytelling is quickly being realised as an essential skill in business. When done right (and well) stories save time, demystify strategies and make messages stick. In 2013, Laurie Lawrence won the Senior Australian of the Year Award for his lifesaving program, Kids Alive – Do the Five. In this interview after winning the award, Laurie […]

Tags: safety, moments, attention-grabbing Our story this week is a short one, but it has an impact. As you will see if you tell a story in an unexpected way, and the topic is possible death or injury, you will immediately generate interest from your audience. We also talk about keeping track of the movies […]

A lot has been written recently about how Jeff Bezos and his executives run their meetings. Amazon has made it very public that their senior team (the S Team) has banned PowerPoint, and that each meeting starts with a six-page narrative memo which the executives read and absorb for up to 30 minutes before the […]

Tags: apocryphal stories, influence stories The web is full of stories of dubious origins, which is the very definition of apocryphal, yet many can be used to make a business point as long as you make clear that the story is most likely false. We provide some examples of apocryphal stories and we dig into […]

Tags: brand storytelling, competitors, collaboration In this episode of Anecdotally Speaking, we explain what it is that Mark and I do for work, why some stories work for some audiences and not for others, and the difference between the typical ‘brand stories’ we see and the one we share today. Lots of companies have ‘brand […]

Storytelling is increasingly being sought-after as a tool to get ahead. Leaders from all over the world are reaching out to us to improve their storytelling skills to stand out and have their messages heard. It’s no different in San Francisco and is probably even more true because of the number of leading companies based […]

An organisation’s value is nothing more than a slogan unless it impacts employees’ behaviours. In this episode, we visit a Harley Davidson factory and see their company values in action. As I write this post I’m sitting on the TransAlpine Railway about to head off from Christchurch across the Alps in the south island of New […]