The Story Factor
The telling of stories separates us from other earthly creatures. The ability to know a past we've never seen and the desire to be a part of the story moving forward gives us a perspective and ambition to do great and memorable things. The stories we collect and pass down form our collective memory. It is our stories that shape us—personally, culturally or otherwise. This is no less true in business. A company's story—told both internally and externally—is a vital part of that company's identity.
Annette Simmons' The Story Factor reminds us of the power of stories and illustrates how we can use them to influence, inspire and motivate. She provides the techniques and inspiration to begin telling your own story more effectively.
When asked where I work, I always reply "Well, do you remember Schwartz Bookshops?" That answer is partly due to the fact that Milwaukeeans will almost always know of Schwartz, which makes it easier to begin the explanation of how 800-CEO-READ formed (as Schwartz's business book division) and what we do. But that's not the only reason I invoke the bookshops... Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops is where our company's culture was formed, and we consider the bookshop history our own. When I speak of our company in those terms, I think it gives them a better idea of what our company is like—what our company is—lthan just telling them that we sell business books.
I've told the story here before...
Our history began in 1927, when Harry W. Schwartz opened up a lending library in the back of the Downer Beauty Parlor on Milwaukee's East Side. He grew out of that parlor rather quickly, began selling books rather than renting them out, and eventually landed at the Iron Block building downtown. He ventured into publishing briefly, releasing books by William Faulkner (Salmagundi) and Vardis Fisher (The Neurotic Nightingale) and had the good fortune to be able to pass the bookshop on to his son, David. It was David that hired the former proprietor of Dirty Jack's Record Rack, a local record store and institution in the '70s, to run his business book division. The word "division" is probably a bit misleading here... let's say section, because that's what it was at the time—a section, at best. The business book buyer is not usually a dynamic position in an independent bookshop with a literary bent and background, but Jack built the business book section into a company of its own and, 25 years later, here we are, shipping business books around the world and giving away what Jack—after years of reviewing the best books coming out each month in his Jack Covert Selects— and Todd Sattersten have gained the knowledge and authority to call The 100 Best of the genre.
We began giving away giving books when my older brother was forced out of New Orleans by the worst natural disaster to hit America since the San Francisco earthquake, making his way back to Milwaukee and the company he had left a year and a half earlier. His old position in Sales wasn't open anymore, having been taken by our other, eldest brother, but we were looking for a temporary shipper/receiver and he was looking for temporary work. I called him the day after Katrina hit to tell him that Jack said the shipping position was his if he wanted it. He did, and when we found his replacement in shipping soon after that, he stepped into a role that fit him more perfectly—inBubbleGuy. inBubbleGuy was an instant rockstar, garnering love and fame by providing those in the business book subculture not only free stuff, mostly books, but also with a figurehead and leader. The workload and fame eventually became too much for one man to handle, however, and Ryan left to roam the frontier. The site sat dormant.
But, then Jack and Todd wrote that book, The 100 Best Business Books of All Time, and we thought "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if we could give away those 100 books on inBubbleWrap?" Well, it is cool, and this week we are continuing that effort by giving away 50 copies of Annette Simmons' The Story Factor. Jack tells you more about it below.
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