Take the story they broke in September 2013 about the role of slave labor in World Cup construction in Qatar. Today, initiatives like The Guardian’s Modern-day Slavery in Focus project use personal stories to communicate systemic issues to mass audiences, often leading directly to change. While the book’s treatment of race has since come under fire, its systemic significance is incontrovertible. Printing presses stayed open 24 hours a day to keep up with public demand for the book that is often called “the first bestseller.” Written by abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, its emotional portrayal of the cruelty of slavery in the United States roused abolitionist support in the North and galvanized the South to fiercely defend it, leading to Lincoln’s legendary (if unverified) comment in the midst of the Civil War. When Uncle Tom’s Cabin was first published in 1854, it outsold that year’s Bible sales.
Abraham Lincoln to Harriet Beecher Stowe “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war.”
It enables the possible to feel probable in ways our rational minds can’t comprehend. It’s a direct route to our emotions, and therefore important to decision-making. Story has many different qualities that make it useful for the work of systems change. Story plays a vital role in helping us do both of these things. The work of systems change involves seeing systemically-looking at the elements, interconnections, and wider purposes of systems-and acting systemically. As Yuval Noah Harari describes in his book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, story went on to play a vital role in building all subsequent civilizations.įast-forward to the volatile times we live in today, where people increasingly recognize that tackling problems like climate change, inequality, and health care requires a systems approach. When they began to settle, humans created myths imbuing cities with transcendence. When they invented agriculture, they created myths that glorified graft and highlighted the seasonal nature of existence. When our ancestors had to kill animals they felt were kindred spirits to survive, they created myths to help them come to terms with it. Humans have always used stories to make sense out of our chaotic world. Stories shape how we understand the world, our place in it, and our ability to change it. Stories make, prop up, and bring down systems. They struggle to agree on anything.Įach of these bleak scenarios illustrates the role of story in changing a system.
#STORIES ABOUT CHANGE HOW TO#
In Singapore, a group of scientists, policymakers, and NGOs try to understand how to build a resilient agricultural system. Subjected to forced labor, they are dying in record numbers. Soon they will return to a filthy, overcrowded labor camp for a few hours rest. In Qatar, a group of migrant workers toil under a blazing sun, building the new stadium for the World Cup. The system she works in is failing the people it is supposed to serve, and she feels powerless to change it. In Liverpool, an exhausted homeless shelter worker puts her head in her hands at the end of another long day.