The Secret Language of Leadership

"The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling” Selected by Innovation Book Club

Bakersfield, CA 11/28/2005 –  A group of senior innovation leaders has selected twelve books from a field of over ninety candidates for the first, global book club focused on innovation.  Books were chosen for their power to stimulate thought and practical application for innovators.  The book club is sponsored by the InnovationNetwork, a global community of innovation practitioners and additional information is available at http://thinksmart.com

Stephen Denning’s “The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling, Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative”  was selected because of its emphasis on the critical skill of using stories to promote and support change.  It is a comprehensive look at the role of storytelling in meeting the most important leadership challenges in today’s world.

Tom Kelley, author of The Art of Innovation and The Ten Faces of Innovation, states, "Storytellers play a pivotal role in the 21st century enterprise, and Denning has provided us with a handy field guide to the narrative craft. After making a compelling argument for the power of storytelling, he gives us the details on how to deliver the right story at the right time. Read this useful book-and then tell your friends about it!" 

Larry Prusak, co-author of Working Knowledge says this is “the one book every manager should read before giving up their lifeless PowerPoint presentations. The book is creative, eclectic, passionate and useful--a rare and winning combination for a business book."
    

The full roster for the book club year includes the following:

Month  Book & Author(s)

Jan       The Ten Faces of Innovation by Tom Kelley, IDEO

Feb      How Breakthroughs Happen, the Surprising Truth about How Companies Innovate by Andrew Hargadon, Associate Professor of Management, University of California, Davis

Mar     Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne

Apr       The Leader's Guide to Storytelling, Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative by Stephen Denning

May      The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Jun       Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard, CEO Patagonia

Jul            Punished by Rewards, the Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes by Alfie Kohn

Aug      The Medici Effect: Breakthrough Insights at the Intersection of Ideas, Concepts & Cultures by Frans Johansson

Sep      The Art of Possibility by Benjamin and Rosemund Zander

Oct       Making Innovation Work - How to Mange It, Measure It, and Profit from It by Davila, Epstein, Shelton

Nov       How to Think Like Leonardo DaVinci by Michael Gelb

Dec            Creativity at Work, Developing the Right Practices to Make Innovation Happen by Jeff DeGraff and Katherine Lawrence

InnovationNetwork helps individuals and organizations develop a greater competency of innovation through conferences, events and training programs.

CONTACT: 
Contact Person:  Joyce Wycoff
Company Name:  InnovationNetwork
Voice Phone Number:  1-760-920-2853
Email Address:  jwycoff@thinksmart.com
Website URL:  http://thinksmart.com

Virtual Chautauqua

Just to let you know that there is a Virtual Chautauqua* under way on The Leader's Guide to Storytelling at http://www.virtualchautauqua.com/. Participation is free, though you do need to go through a simple signup process. The discussion continues through November.

So if you have a question on organizational storytelling or want to follow the discussion, or would like to listen to a 30 minute interview that I gave on the subject (to be posted shortly), check it out here:

Among the topics currently under discussion are:

• The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling: what's it about?
• What progress is occurring in organizational storytelling?
• Can you misunderstand your own story?
• Can a story be an invitation?
• What constitutes a story?
• How does one learn to tell a story?
• Can story be a conversation starter?
• What is the value of a story?

*What's a chautauqua? Good question. Well, before Monday Night Football, before talk radio, before web surfing and chat rooms, there was Chautauqua. At the turn of the century, there were more than 10,000 Chautauqua venues in small towns and rural areas across the United States. People gathered to enjoy the famous authors of the day, the best musical ensembles, and art exhibits usually available only in major cities. After a stimulating presentation, participants wandered back to their porches and living rooms to discuss, debate, and reflect on what they had experienced together. The Chautauqua movement was all about learning in community.

Today, there are only a handful of Chautauqua sites left to provide this unique opportunity to share a rich menu of cultural and educational activities We can never replace the pleasure of sitting together on the grass and talking long into a summer night. But we can make a time and place for learning in community - even in lives lived on Internet time. The Virtual Chautauqua aims to bring this learning tradition online.