Complexity dominates our world. Many ideas, needs, entities and relationships are interacting with each other in ways we can barely wrap our heads around. We can't force complexity to fit into our simple models. That's no longer serving us.
Instead, we need to embrace it. We need to make complexity compelling.
Through my work as a narrative strategist, I work with stakeholders in complex contexts. I use storytelling to orient ourselves, identifying the desires, challenges and languages of these complex systems. When we start to ground the complexity in narrative, we no longer lose the plot. In fact, we become more engaged in the possibilities, waiting to see what's next.
Narrative strategy makes complexity compelling, giving us an adaptive tool kit that responds to the needs of the moment. Understanding what we desire, what challenges we face, and the language we use allows us to hold the multiplicity and dimensions of complexity. It reminds me of the work of Wolf Willow Institute on complexity consciousness . We are too often submerged in stories of fragmentation, othering and antagonism. By making complexity compelling, we can recognize there's another way of being and engaging with one another.