A likely story

Shortly after the financial crash of 2008, a CEO I know continued to see his business thrive when all his competitors were going under. I rang him and asked his secret. 

“Simple,” he said. “I have decided that I’m not participating in this recession.”

It’s worth taking a moment to reflect on that sentence. It has a lot to teach.

Cut to 2023. Every time we turn on the TV or read the press we get confronted with decline. In the UK, for example, reports assert that public services are in disarray. Strikes in all industries are commonplace. The “cost of living” (such a harrowing phrase) grows ever higher. There is a gap in the economy where productivity growth should be. There is a general sense in which positive news — even hope — is lacking.

This sense of lack can infuse the consultancy business. It can undermine client confidence, leading to cut budgets and lost sales opportunities. It means that we can end up working with people who feel worried, beaten down, or even exhausted. It can render us less willing to invest (or speculate in other ways) on our own future.

But here’s the thing, and it’s what my friend was pointing to: decline is a story.

The power of the story

Last week I talked about how we live our lives in language. How the words that we all choose to use, with ourselves and others, influence our perspective on the world. 

Stories are one way in which we mobilise language to make sense of what we see around us. We need them because our world is complex and ambiguous. If we are honest with ourselves, it is hard to understand the world and impossible to influence it in any significant respect. But acknowledging that we have limited understanding and no control is discomfiting. It undermines our sense of agency and autonomy.

Stories allow us to impose a sense of order and control on our existence. And they cast a spell over us — for better and for worse. Stories can help pre-revenue businesses achieve multimillion dollar valuations. They can conjure a sense of national renewal. Or they can cause a run on a bank, a rollercoaster bond market, or Brexit.

But stories are little more than the imposition of narrative order on a confusing, chaotic world. For that reason, it is always worth questioning whether they are true.

A matter of perspective

Pick any story you like: you can easily find facts that contradict it.

• The economy isn’t doing well. But you are still living in one of the planet’s richest countries. 
• Investor confidence is low. But there is lots of investment still occurring and money sloshing around the system (the definition of inflation). 
• A company is struggling. But others in the market are cleaning up. 
• A business makes people redundant. But hiring freezes never last.
• More companies than ever are going bust. But more are starting up.
• Some clients are reluctant to engage. But many are still looking for help.

It is as true in business as it is in life: it all depends on how you look at it. 

Stories carry consequences

If you think about it, you will realise that you are managing your business through a narrative frame. This frame has a huge bearing on how you see the world, and what opportunities exist (or don’t) for you.

A couple of months ago, I reconnected with the influence of my own internal narrative. I had been struggling for a while with some stuff that happened in my own businesses. I was in a thunderous mood. I felt overburdened and overtired. I was angry that circumstances over which I’d had no control had created the need for back-breaking work.

My coach helped me to see that the story I was telling myself was one of ‘winter’. This is a long, barren season. We must do what it takes to ensure we don’t freeze. This was not serving me well at all. Working with him, I was able to reframe the story to one of gardening in springtime. We are replanting. Spring will come. In time we will flourish. 

Rewriting a narrative does not justify boosterism. It is worth stressing that this new story didn’t avoid uncomfortable truths. Gardening can be back-breaking work. Flowers don’t grow overnight. And the elements can still work against you. 

But the narrative is positive: it points to renewal, to work that is in service of an abundant future. It cured my bad mood (if not my over-tiredness), and reenergised me.

Like my CEO friend in 2008, I stopped participating in my own imaginary recession.

What’s your story?

So, the first question to ask yourself is: what story are you currently telling yourself about your business?

Then: how well is this story serving you?

Finally: could you rewrite it to be of more benefit to you?

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What to take from this post

We live our lives in stories. Choose yours wisely.

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