Action that inspires stories

A while ago Layne Beachley, 7 time World Surfing Champion, was running up the beach stairs at Manly after her regular morning surf. Spotting a stray plastic bag in the bushes, she stopped, plucked the plastic bag out of the bush, stuck it in her wet suit and continued on her way up the stairs.

Unbeknownst to Layne, a man who was at the top of the stairs observed this. He shared the story in a LinkedIn post about leadership and doing the right thing, even when you think no one is watching. He also talked about how Layne’s actions inspired him to take a more active role in not walking past rubbish at the beach.

Stories that inspire action

This summer I have spent 4 weeks with the family at our holiday house near the beach. What I have found is that I have been unable to walk past a piece of rubbish on the beach without picking it up. I am not sure if I was ever this diligent before I heard about what Layne did.

It struck me that Layne’s actions inspired a deed in one person, the man that observed her pick up the plastic bag. By sharing this story he has in turn inspired action in others. How many others were inspired by his story? There is no way to tell but at a minimum it inspired action in me. Perhaps my blog may even inspire you to pick up a piece of rubbish instead of walking past it.

The Action Story Infinity Loop

This is the power of the Action Story Infinity Loop. An action can result in a story, which can result in action, which can result in another story, which can result in further action, which can …you get the picture.

I believe this is the fundamental reason why organisational change fails or succeeds. Many companies who are attempting to change culture or instill a set of guiding values and behaviours fail to understand the power of the Action Story Infinity Loop.

The companies that do this well, strategically and authentically (which is critical) do these three things:

1. The leader role models the desired behaviours, which results in action and stories.
2. They actively find stories of their employees demonstrating the desired behaviour and find ways to share them.
3. They train their leaders and key support people in the skill of storytelling in business.

You can’t take a Meatloaf approach here and think 2 out of three aint bad. All three are just as important as each other.

So as we start a whole new year, I invite you to consider what actions are you taking to generate stories and what stories are you sharing to inspire action?

I hope your new year is off to a fabulous start.

P.S. If you are interested in finding out about my storytelling and story finding sessions to help drive the desired behaviours in your company, then contact us to set up a time to talk with me.