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We have already seen a growing emphasis on experience as an important element of context. Stories have become increasingly important to provide even broader context.  We are now on the cusp of a revival of narrative as an even more valuable context.

Narratives, at least in the way I will be using them, are stories that do not end – they persist indefinitely.

They are continuously unfolding, being shaped and filled in by the participants.

Stories are about plots and action while narratives are about people and potential.

Narratives are versatile.  Many different stories can nest within a broader narrative –

The role that narratives play Narratives provide stability and continuity in our lives. Narratives help to orient us.

Narratives have the potential to profoundly shape the future

Narratives also help participants construct meaning, purpose and identity for themselves.  They help to situate participants in a broader context and to build relationships across participants.

narratives help to ignite and nurture passion within us.  They help us to imagine new possibilities, develop confidence that we can act to create those possibilities and motivate us to overcome any obstacles that we face in achieving those possibilities.

The need for new narratives

Without new narratives, we will fall back onto older narratives

We desperately need new narratives that will provide alternatives to the older, more confining narratives.  These new narratives must embrace the fragmentation and change that give us more choice and options while helping to orient us and calling us to more fully realize the potential that we all have.

What we need are narratives of explorers, rather than narratives of true believers.  The narratives of explorers emphasize the opportunity to learn and grow by constantly framing new questions and embarking on quests to gain new insight through action. They focus on the possibilities to be discovered rather than the certainties to be recovered.

The deteriorating trust in all of our institutions, both commercial and governmental, is another indication that the absence of compelling institutional narratives undermines our ability to build long-term trust based relationships with our institutions.

Different levels of narratives

Narratives can be framed at the individual, institutional and society levels.

significant role in shaping our future.

Narratives cannot be crafted by PR departments.  They emerge out of, and are sustained by, daily practice. They require taking a long-term view of trajectories that extend well beyond the individual institution.

we need a compelling narrative that will help to focus our collective initiatives beyond any single institution.  To have real power, it must be a far-reaching narrative, one that helps to stimulate, explain and focus all of the initiatives within society.

The technological foundation of narratives

Digital technology provides all of us the ability to define and communicate narratives in rich and textured ways.

So, we increasingly have affordable and ubiquitous tools to help us communicate and enrich engaging narratives. We now need a new generation of leaders to put these tools to good use.

The bottom line

The role of a narrative is ultimately to attract, engage, motivate and call people to more fully achieve their potential.  Narratives represent a powerful pull mechanism that can shape the world around us. Who will craft these broader social narratives?  Who even understands the need and power of a new set of social narratives? What would such social narratives look like?