Part of: Seth Godin on Story – A Collection
There’s a little ripple in reality here that always intrigues me. On the one hand (as below) the stories we tell can never be entirely true. On the other, everything we do is part of the story we are telling.
It’s impossible to deliver the entire truth to anyone, ever, so by making choices, you’re telling astory. If your blog is well designed, that’s part of your story. If your blog is ugly, thats a story, too. Neither story has to do with the words. But you’re still telling a story. We as marketers ought to recognize that and start acting accordingly. Our competition sure is.Small Is The New Big (2006) - Seth Godin The best lies are true!
True in the sense that you don’t disappoint the listener when she discovers more facts about what you do. Any marketer who believes that they are in the business of telling the complete truth about what they do is delusional. You cant. There is not enough time, not enough attention, not enough money.
J. D. Salinger understood this when he wrote fiction. He didn’t try to tell the truth. He tried to tell a story that resonated. Be a true liar. Someone who knows he’s in the storytelling business, someone who tells people about his ideas in terms they want to hear. But be someonewhose stories hold up under inspection.Small Is The New Big (2006) - Seth Godin
See Also:
On Authenticity | On Branding | On Challenging Yourself | On Storytelling | On Your Story