Strategy is such a loosely used word. In my experience, most of the time (esp in big companies) when some says 'we need a strategy' all they need is 'narrative framing'. Not enough is said about narrative framing, and how to get good at it. Read on... (1/6)

What is narrative framing? Its telling a story within a story, or providing a frame of reference. In a lot of companies there will be separate efforts to achieve impact in a certain area, and they'll all come together in nice story. That story is actually narrative framing (2/6)

Narrative framing is almost considered 'bad' when you call it out, but as a leader its one of your most powerful tools to bring together topics and influence teams. Most of what great politicians, successful entrepreneurs and what any leader does is narrative framing (3/6)

How does one get better at it? Personally, this is where I feel anyone professionally trained in non STEM topics excels. However for us STEM folks, read! Read as much as possible and pay special attention to story structures. How would you move this story to your situation? (4/6)

Second, become the writing assistant to any leader you can find. Most will be super happy to have someone do the work. What will happen is that you will learn to write at a level of abstraction that you won't get exposure to until the later stages of your career (5/6)

Third, for us STEM people bad at writing stories, learn 'how to write'. This is a skill and there are several techniques to it (e.g. The hero's journey). I used to suck at writing - but learning the theory behind it has helped me immensely. Do you have any other tips? (6/6)