The Weekly Reflektion 41/2025

In his book Nexus, A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI, Yuval Noah Harari talks about information, and specifically information networks, as a driving force in human history. One of his central themes is that information is not just a description of reality or a mapping of truth. Information is a force to mobilise, align and coordinate, and to put things in context. Stories, legends or myths are often created to serve this purpose, and we understand and accept the messages that they communicate even though they may bear little or no relation to actual events. Human history is full of stories and arguably these have had more influence over our development than the facts.

When did you last make up a story to get your message across?

The Ramayana is one of the foundational stories of Hindu mythology. It is twenty-four thousand verses long and in modern books stretches over seventeen hundred pages. Yet generations of Hindus have learnt the Ramayana and can recite it by heart. In 1987-88, a seventy-eight-episode adaption of the story was screened on Indian TV. It lasted 91 hours and was watched by more than 650 million people. When episodes were shown, streets were deserted, shops were closed, and people would wash and garland their TV with flowers as part of the preparation. The series was reshown in the 2020 Covid-lockdown and again to a massive audience. Despite the intricate plot and the number of characters involved, people displayed an impressive ability to remember names, scenes and specific quotes from the series. A display of what we can take in and retain if we want to. What makes us good at remembering these stories and their details is that we are genetically presupposed to this type of communication. It is part of our evolution.

Stories are still central to communication, and these are used effectively by many people, both with honorable and dishonorable intentions. Unfortunately, we are sometimes carried along by the story and fail to notice that it is taking us in the wrong direction. Once we have arrived and realized where we have ended up, we often find it difficult to accept that we have been misinformed and misled. After all, it is easier to deceive someone than to convince them that they have been deceived.

We have emphasised the importance of storytelling in several of our Reflektions, and it is the underlying theme in our seminars and presentations. Capturing people’s attention, providing a clear message and setting expectations, and then ensuring these are both remembered and followed. This is the art of communication. And if you want to communicate then you need to use a form that the people will respond to. Tell them a story.

We recently used the story of the Snorre A blowout on 28th November 2004 as the basis for discussions on expectations to leadership and risk management. The incident provided an interesting context for the success and failures in these areas and provided a catalyst for learning and hopefully some improvement opportunities. If you are not capturing people’s attention, then you are unlikely to make any progress. We would also like to remind you that we at Reflekt use major accidents to create a good learning environment and stimulate discussions, and you can too. However, you need to use the experience with your operation and your challenges in your discussions to ensure the they don’t become too abstract.