18 PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | MAY 2013 icma.org/pm icma.org/pm MAY 2013 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT 19

Good stories Get retold and recrafted for different purposes. If a story has relevance today, It wIll have relevance tomorrow. Good stories last.

Why b ec o m i n g a sto ryte lle r c an mak e yo u a b ette r manag e r

storytellinGthe power of

be? what if I added to this story that the job foreman told only the third bricklayer what they were building. would it change your view of the first two bricklayers? then what if I asked you as a city or county manager, “have you ever failed to communicate the organization’s big goals to your employees? have there been times because of time or resource constraints that you simply said to your staff, ‘lay the bricks and build the wall.’?” we’ve all done it. Probably more than we care to remember.

and how about the managers and the line supervisors below us: what are they communicating? what if you, as a manager, could use this story to explain the importance of com-municating the big picture and how it motivates people to see something different or more important? could it change your organization? that’s the power of storytelling.

Turning Advice into a Storywhen I was starting out, the first

city manager I worked for offered me advice that has turned into a story for me. his words to me were:

“Time and place matter. There’s

only one combination of time and

place that will ever work. You need to

remember that. You can do something

at the right time in the wrong place and

you will fail. You can do something at

the wrong time in the right place and

you will fail. And if you really want to

fail, do something at the wrong time

in the wrong place. To succeed in local

government management, make sure

whatever you’re doing is done at the

right time in the right place. Do that

and you will be successful.”

I’ve used this sage advice over and over—and it never wears out. It’s about examining the context of a deci-sion and weighing it. It’s about taking that step back right before you decide and saying, “Is this the right time?”

It’s about understanding that decisions are complex and there are

multiple outcomes. It’s about defin-ing what is “right.” It’s advice that will endure well past my lifetime and can be used by members of your governing board.

In a former city where I served, we were wrangling over whether to have a cellphone ban for drivers in the com-munity. the issue got contentious and

By Mike Scanlon, ICMA-CM

as we go through our careers, we pick up management approach-es and philosophies that contribute to our

success. one such tool, storytelling, has been highly effective in moving organizations in the nonprofit and private sectors toward excellence.

we haven’t fully embraced storytelling in the local government management profession, however, in part because some believe storytelling blurs the management/governance

line. to the contrary, those of us in management need to become better storytellers because quite the opposite of blurring the management/gover-nance line, storytelling can actually help clarify and differentiate that line.

storytelling and the case for it can be seen in the best-selling book by doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals: The

Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.

Goodwin points out how important storytelling was to lincoln in both his political career and his presidency.

you can also hear an extremely good argument for storytelling at Icma’s senior executive Institute at the University of virginia. sonny culverhouse, city manager emeritus, who presents at the Institute, regales classes with his stories and urges students to make storytelling part of their management toolkit.

An Inherent Abilitywe all have it in us to be good storytellers. we also have people in our organizations and communities

who are attracted to and motivated by storytelling.

so, let’s begin with a story you’ve likely heard before.

An inquisitive stranger was walk-

ing down a street when he noticed

three bricklayers working just off

the sidewalk. He asked the first one,

“What are you doing?” The first brick-

layer said, “I’m laying bricks.” The

stranger walked a little further and

asked the second bricklayer, “What

are you doing?” The second bricklayer

said, “I’m building a wall.”

The stranger walked a bit further

and asked the third bricklayer, “What

are you doing?” The third bricklayer

stopped, stood up, and using the trowel

in his right hand outlined in the air

and described with his words what

he was building. He was building the

most magnificent cathedral, and he felt

so lucky that he got to build it.

the stranger encountered three people doing the exact same job, but each bricklayer had a different vision of what he was building. how can that

Takeaways

›words weaved into stories can create community action.

› stories can inspire community creativity and optimism.

› storytelling can provide relevance and context to a difficult situation.

› storytelling can turn words into action.

18 PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | MAY 2013 icma.org/pm icma.org/pm MAY 2013 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT 19

Good stories Get retold and recrafted for different purposes. If a story has relevance today, It wIll have relevance tomorrow. Good stories last.

Why b ec o m i n g a sto ryte lle r c an mak e yo u a b ette r manag e r

storytellinGthe power of

be? what if I added to this story that the job foreman told only the third bricklayer what they were building. would it change your view of the first two bricklayers? then what if I asked you as a city or county manager, “have you ever failed to communicate the organization’s big goals to your employees? have there been times because of time or resource constraints that you simply said to your staff, ‘lay the bricks and build the wall.’?” we’ve all done it. Probably more than we care to remember.

and how about the managers and the line supervisors below us: what are they communicating? what if you, as a manager, could use this story to explain the importance of com-municating the big picture and how it motivates people to see something different or more important? could it change your organization? that’s the power of storytelling.

Turning Advice into a Storywhen I was starting out, the first

city manager I worked for offered me advice that has turned into a story for me. his words to me were:

“Time and place matter. There’s

only one combination of time and

place that will ever work. You need to

remember that. You can do something

at the right time in the wrong place and

you will fail. You can do something at

the wrong time in the right place and

you will fail. And if you really want to

fail, do something at the wrong time

in the wrong place. To succeed in local

government management, make sure

whatever you’re doing is done at the

right time in the right place. Do that

and you will be successful.”

I’ve used this sage advice over and over—and it never wears out. It’s about examining the context of a deci-sion and weighing it. It’s about taking that step back right before you decide and saying, “Is this the right time?”

It’s about understanding that decisions are complex and there are

multiple outcomes. It’s about defin-ing what is “right.” It’s advice that will endure well past my lifetime and can be used by members of your governing board.

In a former city where I served, we were wrangling over whether to have a cellphone ban for drivers in the com-munity. the issue got contentious and

By Mike Scanlon, ICMA-CM

as we go through our careers, we pick up management approach-es and philosophies that contribute to our

success. one such tool, storytelling, has been highly effective in moving organizations in the nonprofit and private sectors toward excellence.

we haven’t fully embraced storytelling in the local government management profession, however, in part because some believe storytelling blurs the management/governance

line. to the contrary, those of us in management need to become better storytellers because quite the opposite of blurring the management/gover-nance line, storytelling can actually help clarify and differentiate that line.

storytelling and the case for it can be seen in the best-selling book by doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals: The

Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.

Goodwin points out how important storytelling was to lincoln in both his political career and his presidency.

you can also hear an extremely good argument for storytelling at Icma’s senior executive Institute at the University of virginia. sonny culverhouse, city manager emeritus, who presents at the Institute, regales classes with his stories and urges students to make storytelling part of their management toolkit.

An Inherent Abilitywe all have it in us to be good storytellers. we also have people in our organizations and communities

who are attracted to and motivated by storytelling.

so, let’s begin with a story you’ve likely heard before.

An inquisitive stranger was walk-

ing down a street when he noticed

three bricklayers working just off

the sidewalk. He asked the first one,

“What are you doing?” The first brick-

layer said, “I’m laying bricks.” The

stranger walked a little further and

asked the second bricklayer, “What

are you doing?” The second bricklayer

said, “I’m building a wall.”

The stranger walked a bit further

and asked the third bricklayer, “What

are you doing?” The third bricklayer

stopped, stood up, and using the trowel

in his right hand outlined in the air

and described with his words what

he was building. He was building the

most magnificent cathedral, and he felt

so lucky that he got to build it.

the stranger encountered three people doing the exact same job, but each bricklayer had a different vision of what he was building. how can that

Takeaways

›words weaved into stories can create community action.

› stories can inspire community creativity and optimism.

› storytelling can provide relevance and context to a difficult situation.

› storytelling can turn words into action.

20 PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | MAY 2013 icma.org/pm

became a favorite of bloggers and talk radio, even though staff was simply asked to study the issue.

To my surprise, when the issue bubbled up under public comments at one of the council meetings, a councilmember was ready with a response to a questioning resident. His response was, “There’s a time and a place for a ban. I think the timing might be right for a ban, but I think this needs to be enforced across the entire metropolitan area, not just in our city. Time and place matter with this issue.”

Yes, I agree that it does.As you can see, a good story or

advice can have multiple applications. Good stories get retold and recrafted for different purposes. If a story has relevance today, it will have relevance tomorrow. Good stories last.

Annette Simmons, author of The

Story Factor, put it best when she said:

“Stories are ‘more true’ than facts because stories are multidimensional. Truth with a capital T has many layers. Truths like justice or integrity are too complex to be expressed in a law, a statistic, or a fact.”

facts need the context of when, who, and where to become truths. A story incorporates when and who—lasting minutes or generations and narrating an event or series of events with character(s), actions, and consequences. It occurs in a place or places that give us a where. Even if a story is not literally true, it is a very good representation of what is true, because it can weave the relational aspects of facts with space, time, and values.”

Getting StartedAll I can tell you is this: I’ve become a much better manager now that I’ve become a better storyteller. If you’re

interested in becoming a better storyteller, here are two books to get you started: The Story Factor by An-nette Simmons and Lead with a Story

by Paul Smith. It’s interesting to note that The Story Factor was ranked in the book The 100 Best Business

Books of All Time written by Jack Covert and Todd Sattersten.

As with anything, practice will improve your storytelling skills. Practice your stories on your peers and friends. Once you get the hang of storytelling, your management style will rise to an entirely different level. So dump the PowerPoint presentations and take up storytell-ing instead.

MIke SCAnlon, ICMA-CM, is town manager, Basalt, Colorado (mike.scanlon@basalt.net).

— Susan K. ThorpeDeputy City Manager, Peoria, AZ

ICMA Member since 1981 | ICMA-CM since 2004

Profiles of

Leadership and management in action“Being a Credentialed Manager keeps me on my toes! It helps me approach learning opportunities throughout the year knowing that I’ll be recording what I learned, what difference it made, and how it will improve my effectiveness as a leader and manager in my organization.”

Demonstrate your commitment to professional development and lifelong learning. Join the growing number of those who have earned the ICMA-CM designation.

ICMA Credentialed Managers are viewed with growing distinction by local governing bodies and progressive, civically engaged communities.

For more information, visit icma.org/credentialedmgr

View a list of credentialed managers and candidates at

icma.org/credentialed

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