In December 2017, a group of researchers found the oldest known cave painting in Indonesia. The painting was discovered in a cave called Leang Tedongnge (lay-ang tay-dong-nge), which is located in a low area prone to flooding in South Central Indonesia. The only time the cave is usually accessible is April to October when the area is not flooded.
Now imagine you are Adam Brumm, the leader of the research team, staring at this drawing inside the cave for the first time. Let your mind wander back 45,500 years ago and imagine what must have been going on when it was drawn. Imagine a big, strong father standing in the cave during the dry season. Let’s call him Joko, which means brave in Sanskrit. The sun is just going down, while he and his two sons – let’s call them Hendra and Agung – huddle around the wall. It’s time for a lesson in hunting.
Joko tells his boys all about a dangerous encounter – a brush with death when he once hunted a large wild pig. He talks about how well everyone ate and how he was celebrated after his first big kill. He explains that the pigs only come out during the wet season, and so they have to be ready. They talk through all of the items they will take with them on a hunt and how long they will be away from home. He tells them about the areas to aim for when hunting the animal. He tells them about the dangers of missing their target, and he emphasizes the importance of bringing meat home for the family. Finally, before putting them to bed, he encourages them to be strong providers like their father has been.
In the last Reading List post, we talked about Dale Carnegie’s instructions for providing criticism in a well-received way, which came from his book How to Win Friends and Influence People. What I didn’t tell you is that the book was written in 1936. Think about how much America has changed since that time. Generations of people have been born. Many have lived through World War II, the Civil Rights Movement, a multitude of political scandals, the September 11th attack, and the War on Terror. Just think about how the invention of the internet, smartphones, and social media has rapidly evolved our communication styles (for better or worse) and our access to information (true or false). We have an entirely different set of expectations of the world around us than the people living in the mid-20th century did, but there is an argument that the recommendations Carnegie made for influencing people are still applicable.
In that post, I also mentioned Building a Storybrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller. This book presents a framework for how best to present a message so the audience will be receptive. The book is aimed at marketing and intended to help companies sell products, but the framework is perfect for anyone with a message. Whether you need to pitch a product to a customer, present an ordinance to a City Council, or train your employees, this framework is tremendously helpful. And, it is consistent with Dale Carnegie’s recommendations to begin with positivity and to relate to our audience through storytelling.
Instead of making the marketing case the author makes, I want to use our friend Joko to discuss the seven components of the Storybrand Framework. This is my unique application of the framework, but I think it’s a cool coincidence that the cave at Leang Tedongnge was discovered in 2017, which is the same year this book was published.
The Storybrand begins with a character. In this case, it may seem like Joko is our character, but he’s the artist of our famous cave painting. He was using the display to educate Hendra and Agung on all they needed to know to be successful hunters. As such, Hendra and Agung are the characters in our story.
The second component of the framework is the problem. In this case, it’s the dry season and these two boys are reaching an age where they will be going on their first hunt when the wet season returns. Hunting can be very dangerous, but it is also essential that they bring home meat to nourish the family through the dry season. Survival depends on success, and for our inexperienced hunters, this could be a problem.
Joko is our guide, and he is the third part of the framework. He paints a picture on the wall and uses a story to make the picture come to life for the boys. He demonstrates that he knows the ropes and he is capable of leading them on a successful hunt. He gives them a reason to let him guide them.
As they talk through all of the equipment they need and what to expect on their first big hunt, a plan comes together. This is the fourth piece of the Storybrand Framework.
Next comes the call to action. Joko tells Hendra and Agung about the scarcity of meat in the dry season and the reason they have to be ready when the wet season arrives.
He paints a picture of failure. He describes the dangers of being hurt if your aim is off. He emphasizes the necessity for food during the dry season.
To offset this, Joko lays out the final component of the Storybrand framework for his sons – the rewards of success, and it is the most important part. As a parent, this is the one surefire way to ensure that your kid is excited about trying something new, and in our story Joko does it. He tells them all about the celebration that will follow when they bring home a large pig, and he tells them about securing a future as a capable hunter and provider. It is critical to anyone seeking to use this method of communication to let the character be the hero of the story. In this way, the endgame will inspire them to do what you are seeking to influence them to do.
Donald Miller lays out the logic behind the Storybrand Framework a little more thoroughly in his book, but for the sake of a short-ish post, our hunters provide a great example. Perhaps even more interesting than the framework itself is the fact that Donald Miller is the same person who wrote several Christian books, particularly Blue Like Jazz. Just this morning, I finished re-reading that book from cover to cover for the first time since I was in college, and it’s amazing how much more meaning I pulled from it after gaining some life experience.
I highly recommend Blue Like Jazz to anyone looking to explore many of the components most essential to the Christian faith – just be prepared to be surprised when you don’t disagree with some of the radical perspectives he expresses.