Outside the Lines
your monthly splash
of creativity and wisdom

Thank you for jumping on board. It's a delight for me to be connected with you and this growing community around the world. If you missed the first Outside the Lines, you can read it at: www.yourwebperson.com/boc/otl1.html

And of course, feel free to forward this newsletter (in its entirety please) to anyone else you think might be interested. As a thank you, I'll donate 10 cents for every subscriber to Nature Conservancy Canada.

Michael Bungay Stanier
Principal, Box of Crayons

Once upon a time
Stories play a big part in my life. My Dad used to create a magical bedtime with stirring tales of Sir Michael (that would be me), Sir Nigel and Sir Angus (my two brothers). My Scottish grandmother was a published author who wrote novels and poems. And I'm married to a Maritimer who has stories in her blood. At one time Marcella was Ms Storytime at a library, and of late she has worked as a bookseller in a Toronto bookstore.

The truth is, we're all actors in our own and others' stories. (Ashleigh Brilliant once said "My life has a superb cast, but I can't figure out the plot.") Understanding how stories work can be a powerful way with which to get a new perspective on the stuff happening in your own life. Reframing a situation as a story - seeing key dynamics and understanding who are the major and minor characters - can be revealing. Here's a very quick guide to how stories work.

Elements of a story
Stories can be broken into three elements:

Characters in stories are often archetypal. Here are some of those archetypes (with examples from the book/movie blockbuster Lord of the Rings):

What's your story?
With those storytelling basics established, think now of a challenge you're facing:

And now let's play with things:

These questions may have created some other possibilities as to how you'll deal with this challenge. Here's where I'd like you to look: what do you have to do to give your story a different ending?

(If you'd like to know more, send an email to storiesboxofcrayons@yourwebperson.com and I'll send you a reference guide of books and websites where you can learn more about stories, archetypes and storytelling).

"The universe is made of stories, not atoms." Muriel Rukeyser, poet.

Coaching is dead!
Are you a coach struggling to build your practice? Do you feel like you're fishing in the same river as all the other coaches?

One reason may be that you're using an outdated business model. (Do you even know what model you're using?) The right model can open up new ways of working with new people - and revitalise your business.

I'll be running an all-but-free workshop for the GTA chapter of the ICF on July 9th at 6.30pm. It's entitled Coaching is Dead! Long live Coaching! In it I'll share three of the most powerful business models from the corporate world - and show how you can use them to reinvent your business.

This workshop combines some great business theory with lots of hands-on practical work. It will be useful for coaches and anyone else who runs a small business. There's more information at www.gtacoaches.com/eventscalendar.asp

Flame-throwers
Part of the work I do is to facilitate teams to be more effective and have more fun. One of my goals is to always run an outstanding meeting. Too many of us have wasted hours and days in interminable and awful meetings.

Part of the art of structuring the meeting lies in creating the appropriate spaces for when people should and should not talk. (Many meetings are terrible because, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, there are too few speaking too much to too many). Which is why this possible tactic mentioned by scriptwriter scriptwriter Bruce Feirstein makes me laugh: "Never settle with words what you can accomplish with a flame-thrower."

When you think about a situation in which you're feeling stuck, what could you accomplish if you used a flame-thrower? And knowing that, what will you do differently now?

Michael Bungay Stanier is a certified coach, consultant, trainer and speaker. He works with people, teams and organizations to have more impact and have more fun. You can find out all about it at www.boxofcrayons.biz or you can just contact him directly at Michael@BoxOfCrayons.biz or +1 (416) 532-1322.

Outside the Lines is distributed on the 2nd Thursday of every month. Subscribe at www.boxofcrayons.biz. Your contact information is never traded, never rented, never sold. All writing (c) Box of Crayons 2004. Box of Crayons is a registered trading name of Maida CC Inc.