Using Stories to Build Culture

One of my mentors told me once, “Don’t tell me about what you believe. Just tell me your stories, and I’ll learn everything I need to know about what you believe.” Listening deeply to someone’s story is a lost art in the present-day cacophony where we’re all clamoring for the space to air out our vindicating beliefs and interesting opinions. The trading of stories is the communicative equivalent of sipping down some chicken noodle soup when you’re sick, a salve for a year like 2020...salutary, intimate, human. Separated by screens and time zones, we’re trying out a new storytelling technique at Uncharted where our group of Directors is meeting on Monday afternoons for six weeks to listen to each other’s most formative stories. Each week a different Director has the floor, sharing moments from childhood, unexpected turns in their life, how their stories have shaped themselves, and how they show up at Uncharted. We’re not trying to heal any major divides internally, but we recognize that it’s so easy to work day-in, day-out with someone for years and never really know them.