Some years ago, I read On Stories, a book by the Irish philosopher Richard Kearney. It’s a good read—not long, and straightforward in its presentation. Kearney makes a compelling argument about the importance and power of stories in our lives. In whatever form, whether fictitious or not, stories present insights in a compelling manner. They can entertain, but they also can shape our understanding of reality—that is their power. This really resonated with me because as someone who taught history, I had found that employing a narrative approach really appealed to students. Much of their previous experience with the subject had convinced them it was boring or not relevant, largely due to poor presentation. Presenting it as a story, as opposed to a collection of facts or a theoretical framework, makes the subject much more engaging and relevant, and piques their interest. (To be clear, facts and theory are foundational to historical understanding; however, they should undergird the story, not be the focal points.) The efficacy of stories is not limited to history. Donald Miller, CEO of the marketing company StoryBrand, asserts that the key to effective marketing is a good story. A good story needs sound content, a clear message, and a compelling narrative arc. It also needs to have the customer rather than the enterprise as its focus. It identifies their needs (real or perceived) and promises a solution. Properly “told,” this appeals to them and leads to commercial success.

So, story is key to effective communication, to presenting something so compelling that it shapes someone’s thinking or action. Its power is evident; in fact, some have claimed we are “wired” to make sense of the world through story. Yet there is a potential downside in all this. Kearney notes that stories can be fictitious; “myths” are a good example of this. In certain contexts, these can be regarded in a positive light. Yet in others, myths can impede accurate understanding and effective action, and with their tenacious claim on our thinking, they can present real problems. Moreover, one of the underlying motivations Miller identifies amongst customers is fear (e.g. of losing something of value). If myth and fear combine to form a compelling narrative, the problem is evident: a “good” story may not have good implications.

Referring back to our last post, the study about misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that myths (e.g. conspiracy theories) could hold significant power over many people. It also cited anxiety (fear) as a key factor in the persistence of misinformation. In sum, people were trying to make sense of a dramatic and sudden phenomenon thatinspired much fear; conspiracy theories offered useful (or “good”) narratives for this purpose. Of course, this had grave implications, such as a greatly reduced trust in government and health officials. Yet this narrative was hardly birthed in 2020.The collapse of the Greek economy over a decade earlier had produced a political context in Greece characterized by polarization and distrust; it would be little wonder that this carried over during the pandemic, offering fertile ground for conspiracy theories and complicating crisis response and management.  

Of course, this trend was not unique to Greece. In a recent class on NATO Crisis Management and Disaster Response that we offer through the University of California Irvine, one of our students noted in a discussion thread how difficult it was for the emergency management team in his local community in the Western US to convince its citizens of the need for expanded emergency response services. The need was evident, as the population in the community had increased dramatically in recent years. Yet many in the community were convinced that proposals for such expansion were unnecessary and stemmed from the ambitions of the EM team (e.g. to have a bigger “fiefdom”). This was undergirded by a long-held suspicion of “big government” and the associated costs (e.g. taxes). A number of other students in the discussion thread responded with their own experiences and perspectives of having to deal with such narratives that proved remarkably resistant to fact and logic.

In sum, stories have a remarkable power to shape understandings of reality. While often useful, they can pose the problems outlined above. Again, this seems an oft-overlooked consideration in emergency management, which ought not be the case. Instead, we need to make this a matter of focus, acknowledging the reality of narrative’s power in the work in the field, and how to engage effectively in addressing this so as to make the work more effective. We will consider this further in our next post.  

Elisavet Katmada, “Effects Of Misinformation On Cognition And Mitigation Of National Security: Resilient Societies In The Wake Of Covid-19” (Research Paper), Capacity Building International (2 July 2020).

Richard Kearney, On Stories (Routledge, 2002).  

Donald Miller, Building a StoryBrand (Harper Collins Leadership, 2017).