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In 1995, he formed Jewell Consulting Group. As a management consultant, executive coach and public speaker since then, he has looked back and identified two prominent patterns of workplace behavior:
1. Questions vs. Answers - Highly driven and self-motivated people form groups committed to finding answers to difficult questions, but too often, after finding the answers, they realize that the questions they were asking were wrong. Perfect answers to misdirected questions. This creates misalignment that runs deep.
2. Stories Move People more than Mere Facts
Jerome has addressed audiences ranging from 15-person seminars to 1500-person conferences, along with thousands of one-on-one dialogues. After painstakingly presenting a concept, defining the problem, presenting the facts, and formulating alternative solutions, attendees would often gather afterwards or contact him days or weeks later to ask follow-up questions. The nature of the questions caught Jerome by surprise.
Instead of asking, "Could you explain fact X, Y or Z?" his audiences began asking "Could you tell me more about the team in the story that you shared? What happened in the end? Did they succeed?" The more he engaged, the more they asked for story-based delivery, instead of recitation of facts and figures. They wanted to know the background and meaning of the facts, and they were not satisfied until given a story that brought the facts to life. With all the energy he'd invested in presenting factual details and linear arguments, the element that attendees retained and found most worthy of further examination was....the story.
Jerome was disappointed at first, and downright frustrated. "Why the stories?", he asked, thinking the answer was that he's either a great storyteller or a terrible communicator of facts. The core answer is neither of the above.
People embrace stories more than pure facts because stories bring life and realism to a topic in a way that compares to no other form of communication. (Visual art and music tell stories but cannot communicate a detailed call to action.) Stories make facts embraceable by providing examples of practice and application, consequences and rewards. Few arguments are resolved by mere facts, as people will ignore the facts if they conflict with the "story" they already embrace.
After spending so many years as an "arguer", Jerome found this conclusion unsettling...but also highly stimulating. It explained why teams often ignored the memos, endless PowerPoint slides and mandates from CEOs, and re-illuminated the power of active listening, because one can only gather and deliver good stories my listening first.
Jerome realized that he needed to re-define his role and become an "interrogator of the world", focusing on two elements:
- Defining and asking better questions, and
- Locating and communicating the stories that help people find better answers
Concurrently, in an effort to broaden his perspective and expose his thinking to fresh ideas, Jerome reached out and began conducting primary research in a variety of areas, including:
- Financial services (mutual funds)
- CRM (call center operations)
- Professional sports management (NFL)
- National defense, security and intelligence
- Experiential learning
Why Storytelling?
We argue the facts of war, the economy, social issues and in our relationships. But facts seldom, if ever, result in these arguments influencing anyone to change their beliefs or actions. If we really want to engage or influence people, that can only be done through "story". Working with individuals and teams driven by a stubborn desire to "find a better way", Jerome eventually shifted his focus to the use of stories as well. Apparently, he's not alone:
At NASA, storytelling is viewed as a "particularly fitting modality", as NASA scientists use storytelling to share the results of their research and projects with their colleagues. In 2008, NASA commissioned storyteller Jay O'Callahan to research, compile and deliver a story to celebrate NASA's 50th Anniversary. At NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, storytelling is used as an ongoing tool for building community and authenticity, to make sense of the organization and to spur learning.
The IBM Knowledge Socialization Project at the Watson Research Center states that:
"Finding a way to share knowledge that exists only in minds and imaginations is crucial to the success of any organization. Storytelling has been a powerful force for the transmission of knowledge in human societies since ancient times. When compared to non-narrative text, stories are deeper and richer, more compelling and more memorable."
The IBM Lotus Research unit believes:
"Stories are powerful tools for insuring the overall value and user experience of designed systems. This is particularly true when designing collaborative systems, whose true value stems from the real world consequences of the collaboration they enable among the people who use them."
Dr. Alex Bennet, former Chief Knowledge Officer, U.S Department of Navy:
"Stories have the capacity to increase our descriptive capabilities, a strength in this age of uncertainty...Description capabilities are essential in strategic thinking and planning, and create a greater awareness of what we could achieve".
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