Land Your Dream Job
Careers that help you move from intention to action

10 Storytelling Tactics To Help You Solve A Tough Problem At Work

Two men in glasses talking to the camera.

It’s Tuesday morning. Your boss shows up at your desk two minutes after you arrive and says that he needs a “creative solution” to a problem. You rub your eyes because you were up late catching up on Mad Men and Game of Thrones and now you’re slamming coffee just to stay awake. But just when you think your boss is gone, he pats you on the back, smiles and says “I need your answer in an hour.

Situation sound familiar? This is where storytelling can help.


Here are “10 Ways to Use Storytelling to Improve Creativity at Work” that will open your creative mind to re-examine everyday issues. You may even mend your relationship with your boss in the process.

  1. Embrace the problem.  All good stories (and good businesses!) have problems. Embrace them. Take a moment to write the problem down in detail.
  2.  Understand the stakes. Write down what your company stands to gain or lose as a result of dealing with the issue at hand. Be specific. What would be possible if you address all components of the problem and the client gets more than they bargain for?
  3.  Ground the problem in your surroundings. Understand the institutional forces at play. What prevailing attitudes are present that may be contributing to the problem? What attitudes can you tap into to fix the situation?
  4. Identify sources of tension.  Take a moment and reflect on tension with clients and within the office. What are the sources of tension for your boss? What about for the company?
  5. Look at previous conflicts. Write down a few other conflicts you’ve had in the office relating to the issue at hand. See if you notice a pattern developing.
  6.  Look at previous crisis moments. Crisis moments offer the biggest breakthroughs for companies. How did people in the office react during the last crisis? How does your boss handle a crisis? What about your boss’s boss?
  7. Pick apart the themes. You may notice themes (i.e. accountability, trust, integrity) appearing. Write them down. Pick them apart.
  8.  Don’t judge yourself. Judgment is the enemy of story and a hindrance to problem solving. Make note of your judgments of yourself. Then quit it.
  9. Don’t judge your boss and/or the company. It won’t help you. Seriously.
  10. Embrace the problem again. The precise solution may not be there, but the problem will seem a lot more manageable.

This article originally appeared on The Story Source.

A picture of Andrew Linderman.

Andrew Linderman is a writer, performer and storyteller based in Brooklyn, NY. He teaches storytelling at the Brooklyn Brainery and is a story coach with the community education program at The Moth, a Macarthur award-winning non-profit dedicated to the craft of oral storytelling. He is also the founder of the Story Source, a consulting company that helps artists, entrepreneurs and organizations of all sizes, from New York University and Random House to small non-profits and digital marketing firms, tell amazing stories to the world.  

For more information, visit www.andrewlinderman.com.

by Idealist Guest

Today's post was written by a guest contributor. We invite our community members to share their experiences and ideas on how to find a job that makes a difference. Want to contribute? Email us here Please note: We do not accept submissions from writers at content farms. Thank you for your cooperation.

Explore Jobs on Idealist