PROLOGUE:
Stories that changed my life
The Medical Sciences Division at the University of Oxford is huge. And it looks even bigger when you’re a young developer, arriving on the first day of a two-year mission to convince its many, many departments they need a knowledge-sharing platform.
I was in my mid 20s. And stories were about to change my life.
In theory, I had a 45-minute slot with some of the leading minds in experimental psychology and clinical neuroscience to win them over to my cause. I soon discovered the reality was a little different. More often than not, they would show up very late, quite apologetic, and immediately begin telling me about their research.
I could see our allocated time slipping away on their office clocks, but I couldn’t help but let them talk. They were about their life’s work. They were telling me stories of new studies that illuminated the winding histories of the human mind, and explained the way we absorb and process information.
They were telling me stories of new studies which illuminated the winding histories of the human mind and explained the way we absorb and process information.
All those stories, and the discussions they sparked, led me to a question that fascinated me. It’s one I’ve been striving to answer ever since: “What if brands learned from the science and applied the principles of psychology to the content they create across the business?”
But perhaps it wasn’t just the subject matter that reeled me in and prevented me from interrupting my interviewees. Other trailblazing academics have shown that when someone tells us a story, we’re hardwired to go on that journey with them. As we travel through their words, our brains change, our behaviors change, and sometimes our world changes too.
We live in a storm of stories.
