Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt & Story
We’re more divided than ever, and yet we’ve never been more alike in our struggles.
No matter our perspective on the world, we’re all challenged by the fear, uncertainty and doubt those perspectives might induce.
The world is changing so rapidly, and yet our struggles across millennia remain the same at their core.
Fear of rapidly evolving social, cultural, political or technological dynamics, or fear of a predator back in our ancestral caveman days. At our core, we are human beings limited by fears of whatever might threaten our human sense of wellbeing.
No matter the source of your fear, uncertainty or doubt, story can be a powerful tool to help you move forward in the face of such “FUD.”
This was an a-ha I came to only days ago as I contemplated how I do a better job of connecting the work I do as a strategic storyteller across all my areas of professional focus.
In my storytelling work through Meshin Movement…
I speak about the power of story to help individuals, teams and organizations grow.
I speak about story for strength and resilience.
I help entrepreneurs and impact organizations articulate their brand and purpose stories.
And I spend the majority of focus on my blog and LinkedIn writing about this work. I’ve even written a book I’ve hesitated to publish (It didn’t feel complete enough as it was. That’s about to change.) about my personal journey in expanding beyond my limits, with story as a key tool in helping me overcome the limitations that plagued me all my life.
But I spend the majority of my actual daily brain time solving complex marketing challenges with strategic storytelling for B2B technology and product companies. You might call it my “day job” but the reality is, I’m equally energized and passionate about this work. It calls on all my love for what story can do to help people overcome obstacles deeply rooted in fear and make decisions to help them move their organizations forward.
I’ve struggled for a long time with how to successfully talk about these two seemingly disparate ways of working with story as one area of focus in my professional sphere. So, I focused more on my storytelling work through Meshin–my “passion and purpose work.” And in doing so, I’ve ignored a big part of what drives and motivates me more and more as a storyteller.
As the world of technology expands at the rate that it does, buyers’ feel greater uncertainty in how to navigate complex purchasing decisions. Product marketers have their work cut out for them in addressing this growing fear, uncertainty and doubt. The role of story has never been more important in this space.
This was the ah-ha moment I had last week.
It’s this emotional and functional state of mind–fear–and what story can do to help overcome it that is the throughline in my work as a strategic storyteller.
The science of story helps us unstick ourselves from the fear that keeps us stuck behind our boundaries and limitations. Those limitations might be our own personal limits, or they might be roadblocks in decision-making. It could be fear in advancing your company through the evolution of technology, the expansion of AI in the workplace, the adoption of new tools (one of the biggest hurdles to overcome in tech-buying!)
At the end of the day, story is one of the oldest methods to inspire movement and change in the world–and the oldest antidote to fear. As the world becomes increasingly complex, story will become increasingly important to help us expand beyond our boundaries–whether those are created by fears, uncertainty and doubt that limit our personal growth or the fear, uncertainty and doubt of how to lead companies through change on pace with the evolution of markets and technology. But note, those stories must be used strategically to elicit the actions we want.
