Some 100 years ago, Oxford’s New College faced a crisis. This crisis had been foreseen by the college’s founders, who implemented a plan to be fulfilled 500 years in the future. In this episode, it’s Shawn’s turn to share a historical story. He recounts a crisis faced by Oxford’s New College about 100 years ago.  […]

Disregarding ideas that don’t adhere to our standard way of thinking can inhibit progress. This story illustrates the importance of having an open mind.  Here at Anecdote, we’re gearing up to turn 15 years old! We’ve been taking a trip down memory lane as we prepare for our big day. Keep an eye on our […]

 Strategy stories are important but they’re not exactly life and death, right? Well, actually, you’d be surprised. Our very first strategy story was for the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) back in 2009. TAC is the government insurer for any injuries sustained on the roads in the Australian state of Victoria. It plays a key role […]

There’s a time to be independent and creative, and there’s a time to serve your audience. Dummer and DJ, Questlove, felt he was at the top of his game when he was asked to perform at Barack Obama’s farewell party. He started his set feeling confident but finished it feeling disappointed, prompting Barack to share […]

Steven Bradbury appeared lucky when he won gold for Australia in the short track speed skating final at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. The whole story, however, implies that it wasn’t just luck, but hard work and persistence, that led him to win.  This week, Mark shares the story behind Steven Bradbury’s win. […]

Does presentation matter? Here’s a story you can tell or trigger to convince your colleagues that it does. If you regularly read our blog, you will be familiar with story-triggering. Story-triggering is what occurs when someone does something so remarkable that the people who see, or experience it, tell stories about it. In our last […]

Do you remember Dave Carroll’s 2009 YouTube sensation, United Breaks Guitars? Dave was flying United and as they they were waiting to take off a passenger noticed that the ground crew were throwing around a guitar case. It was Dave’s expensive Taylor guitar, and the bag handlers broke it in the shenanigans. Dave complained, but […]

I’m in the process of buying a new car. So last weekend I organised test-drives of three cars from three different car dealers. My first two test-drives followed a similar pattern. The salesperson showed me the car, I jumped into the driver’s seat, and we took a 15-minute spin up a freeway and back again. […]

Last week I was working with a client in Sydney, preparing a senior leader to present a new strategy to their people using a strategy story. We designed the presentation so that the strategy story could be told without slides. We wanted the leader to just talk with their employees about the strategy and why […]

Last week, Shawn and I spent the day together at the Melbourne Convention Centre. The morning speaker was Patrick Lencioni, author of ‘The Five Dysfunctions of a Team’ and ten other books. The Wall Street Journal has described Lencioni as “one of the most in demand speakers in America”. It’s easy to understand why. He […]