If you've ever walked into a team meeting or strategy session and felt like the stories being shared weren't shifting anything…this episode is your reframe.

Today I'm talking with David Hutchens, storyteller, author, organizational consultant, and creator of some of my absolute favorite tools for leaders who want to use narrative to build alignment in their teams. David has worked with global organizations to help them move from merely telling stories to making meaning together, and that's exactly what we dive into today.

David breaks down why:

Storytelling is humanity's oldest sense-making technology
The story itself is not the end, but the beginning of a deeper team conversation
Alignment doesn't happen when one person tells a great story… it happens when the team talks about what that story means
Groups who make meaning together actually become a community
Story circles can transform a team's connection, coherence, and creativity
"Emotional data" is just as real as any spreadsheet—and storytelling can reveal it

He also introduces his beautiful "geography of meaning" framework, which helps teams explore a story from three different orientations:

Behind the text – What did we notice about the storyteller, ourselves, or the room?
Within the text – What images, moments, or messages stood out inside the story?
In front of the text – What wisdom can we pull forward into our team's future?

And the three listener roles that bring this alive:

Witness. Harvester. Connector.

This episode is the perfect companion to my earlier conversation with Brett Davidson, where we explored the shift from storytelling to storylistening, and how individual stories can accidentally silo us unless we build a collective narrative.

If David gives you the "how" of sense-making, Brett gives you the "why" of collective storytelling for strategy.

Together, these episodes are your starter kit for Reframe to Create 2.0, moving from "me" to "we," from solo creating to community sense-making, and from personal story to shared story.

Because if we want to create together, we must reframe together.

About my guest: David Hutchens has been exploring the intersection of narrative, leadership, and complex systems change for more than 20 years. A bestselling author, business writer and learning designer, he creates solutions for Accenture, Harvard Business Review, The Coca-Cola Company, Wal-Mart, IBM, The US Olympic Committee, and many others. His partnerships include a recurring instructor position with the globally renowned INSEAD School of Business in Fontainebleau, France.

He speaks to organizations and leadership teams all around the world on the topic of storytelling as an organizational capacity. His new book is "Story Dash", was published August, 2021. It is his ninth book. He is the author of "Circle of the 9 Muses: A Storytelling Field Guide for Innovators and Meaning Makers," (Wiley & Sons 2015).

He created the innovative Leadership Story Deck — an innovative, card-based resource for developing narrative driven communications. The popular resource is now available on Amazon.com.

A nationally recognized developer of innovative learning products, David's work has been recognized with distinctions such as Training & Development's "Training Product of the Year" award; ASTD's prestigious "Excellence in Practice" award; Brandon Hall Gold award, and more.

Contact David:

Email: David@DavidHutchens.com

Resources: www.StorytellingLeader.com/resources

Website: www.DavidHutchens.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidhutchens/

About: The Reframe to Create podcast is hosted by Joy Spencer, an Executive Leadership and Storytelling Coach, Speaker, and Organizational Development Consultant working with professionals and leaders at all levels within organizations. Joy leverages over 17 years of experience she gained while working to champion change in social justice movements, including those related to global access to essential medicines and consumer advocacy for online privacy. This work required a dogged commitment to not merely challenging the status quo, but to reimagining and working towards creating an ideal future. It is this commitment to creating that has shaped Joy's coaching philosophy and approach today. Using her signature C.R.E.A.T.E. framework, Joy guides her clients through a process to become incomparable in work so they can get paid to be themselves.

Follow Joy on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joy-spencer/

Geography of Story Download

120: From Storytelling to Sense-Making: How Teams Build Meaning Together | David Hutchens