If you want to change the world…Story as innovation methodology for authentic entrepreneurship

Abstract

While Design Thinking has exploded into a popular innovation methodology, other creative arts play a supportive role at best. Storytelling, for instance, is often reduced to change agent in the latter stages of the innovation process. As a holistic innovation methodology, it is under-utilised. This paper explores how universal story principles can aid social innovation by reconciling the authentic voice of the innovator with business considerations. The power of story goes beyond messaging. To Hannah Arendt (1958), storytelling is the most inclusive form of discourse. Smith et al (2017) identify storytelling’s fostering of cooperation as an evolutionary advantage. Mythologist Joseph Campbell (2008) likens fictional heros to those who have chosen to follow an inner calling to move beyond their comfort zone, “through difficulties not commonly encountered” and what he calls “the dark night of the soul”. Campbell suggests that “the heroes of all time have gone before us; the labyrinth is thoroughly known; we only have to follow the thread of the hero path”. Storytelling, then, provides methods to foster cooperation, identify problems, develop ideas, and craft strong messages. But most importantly, universal story principles illuminate the path of the innovator, with all its difficulties and personal challenges. This paper introduces the concept of StoryMapping - an action research method loosely based on Campbell’s Hero’s Journey - and reflects on use cases with social innovators in Germany, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. The paper outlines how universal story principles create a blueprint for the innovation process and how story can be used as a holistic innovation methodology that puts the focus on the innovators, their fears and authentic voices. By doing so, StoryMapping hopes to create a more sustainable innovation process that takes into account the struggles and fears of those that drive social innovation: the entrepreneurs themselves.