The Power of Story in a Messy World
by Rob Paterson
David Kilcullen, an Australian who has been advising General Petraeus is I think one the most perceptive of all those who are thinking about how war itself is conducted now in a social context.
Here is a central idea that he offers – that war now is all about story. The winner has the story that most of the people adopt.
War is increasingly about stories – the social web is how they are told. So the web itself will become key to how wars are fought.
If a big powerful state beats up a weak one – the story causes the host population to lose confidence and in the end, influence the politics to withdraw. The smart opponent knows how to set up the story. After all why the choice of the World Trade Centre? We responded as they expected becuase it was a symbolic attack on our story. Our predictable over-reaction makes us look like bullies and so again – we lose the story as the set up ensured.
How then to respond. I think that Kilkullen’s slide gives us a plotline to follow.
We have to create a compelling narrative that is based on the truth.
I think that all of this also applies to all forms of enterprise. Spin and traditional marketing fails the Story test.
