𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗨𝗽𝗼𝗻 𝗔 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗜 𝗛𝗮𝗱 𝗔 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹
- Feb 19
- 2 min read
Was it a coincidence!? I think not.
No sooner did I return from an evening’s discussion at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) on the importance of narrative, in policy, politics and life, than I turn on the radio and hear Matthew Syed discussing the power of story telling.
An echo of the night before, the morning after. Is it written in the stars?
Has someone scripted a tale about tales, in which I am an unwitting narrator, hero or villain?
And only a couple of weeks ago, the strength of stories and myths was a core theme as myself and Nippin Anand mused at the Library of Mistakes on why it is hard to learn from accidents, in both banks and maritime.
Someone should write this up as a compelling fable, with a clear narrative arc and comforting cause, effect and resolution.
The story of how stories became the story.
But what if people confuse the power of these tales to explain, engage and embolden, with the truth of the underlying topic? A metaphor may help in communication, but it can confound when it hits messy reality.
It is a concern for the ages. Socrates recognized the power of the story, and whether it was well told, its influence on the reader and if its representations of the world were valid.
The LSE event was an excellent session on narratives in policy making. As the event blurb noted:
“𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺.
𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯-𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨”
Dr Adam Brzezinski, Professor Sarah Dillon, Professor Paul Dolan, Baroness Sharon White DBE brought the topic to life, expertly shepherded by Professor Sonia Livingstone.
The event coincided with the publication of papers (in the LSE Public Policy Review) where authors from a range of disciplines explore the role of narratives in shaping what we think, do and feel, for both good and ill.
The following morning Matthew Syed was recounting on BBC Radio 4 a tale of how a childhood story came back to a gang member amid the violence of 1980’s South Los Angeles.
As the show noted, throughout our existence, we hear and create stories and some have a powerful and lasting impact.
But in our attraction to storytelling does everyone live happily ever after?
Can our drive for soothing simplicity, resolution and order lead to an incomplete and misleading picture?
Thereby hangs a story. And i’ll tell it to you one day.
References
The LSE event on Narratives in Policy Making of 18th February:
The LSE public policy review papers on Narratives:
BBC Radio 4. Matthew Syed and Sideways on “The Story My Sister told me”.
Myself and Nippin Anand touching on the power of stories at the Library of Mistakes
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