Library

Dig deeper into the art of Operational Storytelling with these books, articles, and other sources of insight.

The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better, by Will Storr — While aimed at writers, this book provides a wealth of insights for anyone looking to tell a story in any medium. If you're like me, you'll appreciate Storr's lucid explanations of how our brains really are wired for story. This is a must-read if you're serious about understanding how story works.

A Story is a Deal: How to Use the Science of Storytelling to Lead, Motivate and Persuade, by Will Storr — Though marketed to some degree as a how-to manual, this is really more a continuation of The Science of Storytelling. It is more narrowly focused on using storytelling to lead, but I don't fault it for that. Knowing the underpinnings of how story works as a persuasive tool is more important than having a to-do list for success. I recommend reading this after The Science of Storytelling.

Wired for Story, by Lisa Cron — Like The Science of Storytelling, this is a book for writers, and it draws on neuroscience to explain how story operates. However, this is much more focused on the particulars of writing as a craft, and holds fewer takeaways for those whose storytelling is less structured. For writers, however, this is a must-read book.

Presentation Zen 3: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery, by Garr Reynolds — We all use decks, and most of us dread them. The deck is required in so many business meetings, but seldom do we as why a deck is required, what it should be doing, or how it can actually help us achieve our goals. Your company's standard deck template is most likely garbage, because it was designed for uniformity rather than impact. If you want to create decks and give presentations in a way that advances your goals, give this a close read, and don't be afraid to put its precepts into practice.

The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint, by Edward Tufte — Two decades on, this 32-page monograph is a scathing critique of how slide decks often obscure rather than support storytelling. Think of this is as the flip side of Presentation Zen. That book is about how to use decks to best effect, this one is about the dangers of letting decks run amok.

User Story Mapping: Discover the Whole Story, Build the Right Product, by Jeff Patton with Peter Economy — This book was published in 2014. That means it's at least 50 Tech Years old. But some books are timeless, and this really isn't just about software. It's about taking a product idea, framing it as a story, and breaking that story into smaller sub-stories. In the age of AI, it's tempting to think that everything should be built ad hoc as rapidly as possible. But especially if you want to build something that will surprise and delight customers, story-driven development is a tried and true approach.