Without purpose, there is no story

Image credit: Walt Disney Company

Great stories and great brands share a core ingredient: purpose. It fuels action, creates tension, and keeps us engaged. How to find yours—and make your audiences care.

Much has been written about purpose and how it can energize people, transform culture, create trust and increase company performance (I am guilty of adding to that pile). A lot of stuff has also been written about how companies and brands need to become better storytellers. Having worked in both worlds, I think they actually depend on each other in a very direct and simple way.

Stories are essential to engage, inspire and win

Let me share some old news first: With information overload in overdrive, storytelling is increasingly important to capture an audience’s attention, convey information and inspire action. It can win over employees, investors and consumers alike. John Kotter, professor at Harvard Business School and author of “Leading Change”, believes that “those in leadership positions who fail to grasp or use the power of stories, risk failure for their companies and for themselves.”

Intent and Opposition

So how does storytelling really work? How can we harness its power to engage and inspire people? To truly understand storytelling and its underlying principles at the core, let’s borrow a page from Hollywood, still the world’s most successful story factory. It teaches us that, at its very core, the story recipe is simple and universal: A protagonist is pursuing a goal against forces of antagonism and has to take increasing levels of risks to get there. Aaron Sorkin, one of the most successful TV and film writers of our time (The West Wing, A Few Good Men, Steve Jobs, Moneyball, The Social Network and many more), says it this way:

“What I need before I can do anything is intention and obstacle. Somebody wants something. Something's standing in their way of getting it. They want the money. They want the girl. They want to get to Philadelphia. It doesn't matter. But they've got to really want it bad, and whatever is standing in their way has got to be formidable. Intention and obstacle is what creates friction and tension, and that's what drama is. If you don't have that, then it's journalism.”

Purpose is what stories are made of

So, without really wanting something, there is no story. Without something really difficult standing in the way, there is no story. And without the journey posing risk and demanding every bit of the character’s passion, skills and will, there is no story. This is where the overlap between story and purpose happens, or as another screenwriting legend, Robert McKee, puts it, “First and foremost, good stories have purpose.”

Image credit: HBO

Purpose guides a character’s action throughout the story and provides the conviction to overcome any obstacle. Purpose is why the audience cares for the hero. In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker’s purpose has been to restore justice by bringing down the regime of Darth Vader, while in Game of Thrones, Daenerys Targaryen’s purpose has been to reclaim the Iron Throne from the grips of the Lannisters. In both cases their goal is noble and the obstacles they face are formidable. That’s why we care and why the story has a grip on us.

So in order for brands or entire organizations to employ storytelling to inspire and engage their audiences, they first have to find their purpose. A well-articulated purpose defines the difference a brand or organization is trying to make in the world and can provide a powerful and sustainable basis for all storytelling activities. Tesla is trying to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. Patagonia is using business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis, Mattel is striving to empower the next generation to reach their full potential through play, and Microsoft is determined to help every person and organization on the planet achieve more, including fighting for disability inclusion into technology.

Image credit: Patagonia

Each of these ambitions are big, noble and aspirational, so they make us care. And each of them represents a journey full of obstacles, struggles and setbacks, demanding every ounce of passion, strength and faith the organization or brand behind it has to offer. This is what creates the potential to keep audiences engaged and on the edges of their seats.

Purpose as a neverending well of storytelling

So once an audacious purpose is articulated, it serves as a basis for a brand’s or organization’s narrative and becomes an infinite source of inspiration for storytelling across all audiences and channels. When put in context to the big, noble aspiration, every product, every service, every experience, every innovation and every new initiative is part of a noble fight. Every touchpoint, internal or external, becomes an opportunity to tell the story. And most importantly, every audience member gets a role in the story and can engage and contribute to the brand’s fight through their behavior and action.

This way, it is almost impossible to run out of meaningful things to talk about, and all stories point to the place on the horizon that we all agree is worth pursuing. If the Star Wars saga can span across 12 movies and 48 years (and counting), and Game of Thrones kept us biting our nails for 8 long years, then companies taking up the fight against climate change, disease or injustices, and for a better future, should have no problem keeping us hooked for a while.

Purpose is where it all starts. Have you figured out yours?

If anything sparks your interest in this or the following articles, please do email philipp@purposefulgrowth.co