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CHANGE THE STATUS QUO
THROUGH YOUR NARRATIVE
INTELLIGENCE
WRITTEN BY CHRISTINA BLACKEN
FOUNDER OF THE NEWQUO.COM
THE CASE FOR INCLUSIVE LEADERSHIP, AND ACHIEVING STATUS QUO BREAKING GOALS
THROUGH THE PSYCHOLOGICAL POWER OF STORY
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We are facing a lot of uncertainty and anxiety in the
coming months. We need new, unconventional leaders
and their ideas to be at the forefront of this massive
societal change, and they need to tap into their narrative
intelligence to bring critical visibility and buy-in for their
ideas to change the world for the better.
I’m not interested in maintaining the status quo. What
results has our current social, political, and economic
systems brought humanity? How did we get to where we
are right now? Why would we get back into a vehicle we
know has four flat tires and is careening off a cliff? I come
from a long line of women courageous enough to leave
behind what they know, to rewrite their stories and fates
in an unknown place. They were leaders. And we all can
be transformative, inclusive, innovative leaders on the
other side of a status quo shifting story. Let’s dive in.
I’ve spent a decade in my professional career using
storytelling to drive behavior change -- from closing 6.5M
in sales for household brands to motivating 300K teens
to get involved in social causes, all through the power of
storytelling. I have witnessed how powerful narratives
are not only for selling ideas but for shaping every action
and individual behavior we take, the cultures that we live
and work in, and for solving the root cause of inequalities
we see in the world.
The frameworks developed in this paper are built on my
in field client work, scholarly research studies on
narrative and psychology, and theories on collective
leadership, relational leadership, and transformational
leadership.
This paper is proposing a new approach to leadership
and change through the power of narrative
intelligence.
Humans use narrative to make sense of the world, attach
meaning to our experiences, and to pass on knowledge.
Every action you take and goal you hold is affected by
your narrative intelligence, which is the ability to
recognize how stories impact and influence values, bias,
personal and cultural beliefs, and behaviors. Narrative
intelligence is the ability to leverage the psychological
power of story to change behavior and inspire action.
Fear-driven narratives around money, success, identity,
and leadership led us to where we are right now as a
society, and we have the power to reverse these issues
with improved narrative intelligence.
Traditional leadership practices across every industry --
from government and entertainment to education and
consumer goods -- feel like crusty, worn out, ill fitting
clothes we’ve outgrown. These practices are built on
scarcity, fear, bias, and hoarding capital, forging the
rocky path to where we are right now as a global society:
an overtaxed ecosystem and climate, a severe imbalance
in resource distribution, racism and other systems of
bias limiting wellbeing and livelihood, billions of people
going without their basic needs of food, water, shelter
and security being met -- creating the perfect conditions
for global pandemics.
We're at the beginning of a major inflection point. Our
systems have been inherently broken from the
beginning, but the silver-lining of seeing the flaws in our
systems is we have the power and opportunity to build
something exciting and new.
WHATISTHISABOUT?TL:DR
LEADERS WITHHIGHLEVELSOFNARRATIVE INTELLIGENCE:
The New Quo
01/10
Better manage uncertainty by uncovering empowering narratives around change and
transition
Increase their influence and persuasion by creating emotionally impactful narratives to
communicate their new ideas
Are confident and improve performance by reframing limiting internal narratives they
believe about their own capabilities
Lead others to their fullest potential by creating motivating goals and a shared
narrative that gives a sense of purpose
Increase innovation by unpacking biased internal narratives and responding to change
and difference with curiosity instead of fear
Create genuine cultures of inclusion and connection across diverse backgrounds
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THE POWER OF A STORY
03
CURRENT LEADERSHIP
PROBLEM: FEAR-BASED
NARRATIVES
05
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO
IMPROVE YOUR
NARRATIVE INTELLIGENCE
TODAY
08
WHAT IS NARRATIVE
INTELLIGENCE?
04
CREATING CHANGE
THROUGH THE STATUS
QUO SHIFTING METHOD
07
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Jermaine looked to be about seven years old -- an age
where life is driven by curiosity and unabashed
exploration. A man, who appeared homeless, stumbled
onto the subway train we all shared, covered in a
smudged and stretched all blue sweat suit outfit. His t- shirt gaped at the seams, and had “Choose Jesus”
splashed across the center. I turned my music down in
my earbuds as soon as I heard Jermaine (his name
divulged when his mom called him) engage the man
with the innocent question: “Do you like knock knock
jokes?”
“Hmph, why...yes I do!”
“Knock knock.”
“Who’s there?”
“Birdie.”
"Birdie who?”
“I’m an ooowl not a birdie!”
The man chuckled, pressing his back against the silver
pole in the center in the subway car. He slid to the
floor, his swollen, distended feet exposed through
ripped, open toe sandals. The boy began asking the
man questions -- where he was from, where he was
going, and why his shirt said ‘Choose Jesus.’ Jermaine’s
mother looked bemused, but didn’t interrupt the
exchange. As we barreled underground past Dekalb
Avenue, going deeper into Brooklyn, New York,
Jermaine and his mother got ready to exit.
“Have a good day!” Jermaine said in a jolly goodbye as
he left the train car with his mom.
The man had made genuine human connection,
probably the first in sometime. Everyone in the subway
car watched the exchange, curious as to how this little
boy, oblivious to social expectations and pressures,
could be so unfazed and willing to be open.
Two stops away from my exit, the man began talking
out loud to everyone in the subway car, stating, “We all
live in these bubbles. Private bubbles separate from
each other! I just want to burst people’s personal,
protective bubbles!” He stuck his finger in his mouth,
snapping it across the inside of his cheek to make sharp
pop noises, indicating what the popping of these
hypothetical bubbles could sound like.
That evening subway ride left a deep impression on me.
If you know anything about New York City, you know
people maintain their sanity from the constant buzz
around them by tuning out. This exchange between the
boy and this man stopped typically apathetic
commuters in their tracks, and grabbed their attention
to this singular, beautiful human moment.
All of us have this beautiful, innate ability to create and
share stories with one another, to hold space and
better understand each other. Stories hold the power to
change the bubbles of separation between us.
The New Quo
THEPOWEROFASTORY
03/10
“We have been raised to fear the yes in ourselves.”
-- Audre Lorde
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The New Quo 04/10
WHATISNARRATIVE INTELLIGENCE?
“If I color you with all my thoughts. Would you lose your fears of being lost? I bet you
never even knew. I see the universe inside of you.” -- ALINA BARAZ, "CAN I"
The true story you just read about the little boy on the subway
did a fascinating thing to your brain. When you hear a story, the
neural activity in your brain increases fivefold. This incredible
feature of storytelling is the result of two cognitive processes.
First narrative transportation - a phenomenon studied and
coined by researchers T.C. Brock and M.C. Green, helps you
lose yourself in a story. Your brain creates visuals from the
story being told, your senses and emotions fire, and your
values and beliefs shift with the narrative.
The second process, neural coupling, causes the neurons in
your brain to fire in the same ways as the storyteller. When we
hear an emotionally compelling story, more of our brains
become engaged, triggering empathy, improving our memory
and recall, and releasing the cuddle hormone oxytocin. Our
brains live on and crave stories because they just feel good and
engage so many of our senses simultaneously.
Narrative intelligence is our inborn ability to create
patterns and attach meaning to what’s happening in the
world around us through stories.
It is understanding how narrative affects our brains, and
knowing how to use various storytelling techniques on story
structure, metaphor, symbolism, emotions, and language to
evoke a specific emotional response and influence thinking
and behavior. Imagine your brain is like a bookshelf, with
each experience and message you receive becoming a story
stocked away. When you encounter a problem or major
moment of change, your brain shuffles through the stories
on the bookshelf to find the most relevant story that can
help shape your response.
Everything we do as humans is tied to narrative. Religion is a
narrative collection of stories about morals. History is a
narrative collection of the meaning of past events. Education
is narrative about knowledge. Entertainment is narratives
that take people on unexpected fictional journeys to evoke
aspirational and thought provoking emotions. Decision
making is narrative. Whatever goals you are striving
towards requires narrative intelligence to achieve them.
NARRATIVE INTEL L IGENCE HAS NU M EROUS BENEFITS:
Stories are the most influential tools on the
planet for transferring our ideas to one
another and changing each other’s behavior.
We can literally walk in each other’s shoes
and ideas when we experience each other’s
stories. Improving your narrative intelligence
will help you communicate with more impact
and persuasion when sharing new ideas.
I N CREAS E I N F LUE N CE
0 1
False narratives picked up from family,
school, church, work, and media are at
the core of biased thinking and
behaviors. Narrative intelligence gives
you the ability to slow down behavior,
recognize biased patterns of thinking,
and shift narratives to change your
responses to people who are different
from you.
RE DUCE U N CO N SCIOUS BIAS
0 2
Every person on this planet attaches
meaning to the events and changes they
experience. The narrative meaning
attached to these life changing events
creates the connection between daily
behaviors and a deeper purpose. Narrative
intelligence is the ability to connect the
dots with past experiences to present
behaviors which unearths the deeper why
and purpose behind actions and ideas.
D I SCOVER PURPOS E
0 3 Stories are the deepest way we connect
with one another. It allows us to
understand each other’s values, past,
present, and future. When we listen and
share stories, oxytocin is released and
empathy is increased. Without story, we
cannot create the deep bonds necessary
for wellbeing and flourishing.
BUI L D RE LAT IO N SHIPS
04
Narrative intelligence and change goes together like peanut butter and jelly, butter and bread, earth, wind, and fire. Narrative
intelligence is one of our most powerful tools to create personal and social change - yet fear-based narratives and low narrative
intelligence is the cause of so many communication, inequality, and leadership problems we are currently experiencing today.