Language is the code of culture.
Stories and narratives are core, platform applications that execute the cultural operating system. Repeat: The culture is the operating system, composed of the stories— the core applications. The language is the code used to create these core ‘applications’. If you have no stories, you do not have a culture.
Got that?
Dave Logan has all this covered in TRIBAL LEADERSHIP. You listen to the language- the code— of the stories you hear. That tells you the level of the culture. The level dictates what the culture can aspire to. What it can do.
What it is capable of doing. And being.
Example. You show up. People are talking in ‘We’ language and telling ‘We’ stories. That’s a tribe that can dominate their market space. That’s a tribe that can get to Stage 5 in the TRIBAL LEADERSHIP stage development model of culture. This Stage 4 tribe has the capacity to reach Stage 5 and be world-changing.
Another example. You show up and people are speaking ‘I’ language. The stories are all heroic in nature. He did this, she did that. I think this; I do that. Hear it? That’s Stage 3 culture. “I am great. (You are not.)”
This culture can function in a minimal way. It cannot change the world.
To change the culture, change the stories people are telling. There are many ways to do this. It’s not a trivial task. I explain some specific techniques in THE CULTURE GAME book. When you change culture, you change the stories. This is an axiom that does not change.
The culture is the operating system.
The stories are the core components and core applications that make up the operating system. They encapsulate what the culture means. This operating system is composed of stories.
The language is the high-level (story) programming medium.
Last thing: recall that the best computer programmer is up to 10X better than the average. This is ALSO TRUE for those who ‘code’ stories.
Interested in culture? Wise up about story. There is no better place to start than the web site www.GetStoried.com. That site has a boatload of tips, techniques and specific guidance on how to leverage narrative. The individual responsible for that site has PLENTY to teach you.
Michael Margolis is a brilliant man who knows more about narrative than ANYONE I know.
Tell him Dan sent you, and that you want to know how to get a bigger story.