Aaron J. Marx is…(Part 4)
Hi! One of my biggest challenges is communicating about my work and helping people like you to understand how it is relevant. I've identified 8 facets. Here's the fourth. Enjoy!
Take a moment to look around you. You are surrounded by stories. Do you see them? They are literally everywhere. All objects, people, ideas, and everything else represent the latest chapter in a story of some kind. Do you see them now?
Detectives know this well. They will enter a space that holds some kind of mystery and uncover the clues that unlock the unknown. Everything has an explanation. Everything. If you don’t understand what’s going on, if there is any kind of mystery behind a result or lack thereof, it means you haven’t yet uncovered the story that explains it.
I’m looking around the room in which I am writing this. It’s a coffee shop, full of furniture, artwork, customers and servers, implements of preparation, systems of commerce. Each has a story, and the stories interlock. The table I’m sitting at his stories about the material, the style, the manufacture, the shipping, the purchase, the business model of the coffee shop, and others. The artwork has stories of creation, motivation, inspiration, medium, style, message, purchase, interior design, company culture, and many others.
And the people. Oh, the people. We all have stories, and these stories explain every behavior we exhibit. Every single one. And we are often not aware of many of the stories that drive us, or those around us. But remember, there is ALWAYS an explanation. Because all actions have motivations and results. All of them. No action is taken without motivation or the promise of some kind of result. And we all aim at improvement. Our narratives and projections of improvement conflict, inevitably, and that is why we sometimes, even often, struggle against one another. And there is no story without struggle.
But remember, if you are encountering a problem or frustration that you don’t understand, a problem or frustration on any scale, in any sphere of your life, be it in your family, your workplace, your community, or anywhere else, and you can’t see around the problem, it is because there is a story you don’t understand. A story that is driving someone.
Want to improve things? Learn to spot the stories. They are everywhere, and always will be. They are ultimately what every single thing signals. Want to improve the signals? Improve the stories. But first, you must find them and examine them so you know exactly how to change them.
Need help finding the stories that are responsible for your frustrations? Let me know, and we’ll uncover them together.