Squirrel Inc.: A Fable of Leadership Through Storytelling

by Stephen Denning

Take a satirical scamper through organizational life in the midst of  changing times, brought to you by master storyteller and former World Bank executive Steve Denning. With wisdom and a healthy dose of wit, Denning introduces a cast of furry characters who together learn the fine art of change through storytelling in their quest to overcome obstacles, generate enthusiasm and teamwork, share knowledge, and ultimately lead their company into a new era of success and significance. Through the stories of Squirrel Inc ., readers will learn that the ability to tell the right story at the right time can determine the outcome of any major change effort. In each chapter Denning's squirrels learn to use storytelling to address leadership challenges:

Genres: Business, Leadership, Nonfiction, Management, Self Help

182 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Visnja Zeljeznjak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote extensive book reading notes on my personal blog, from which I'm bringing you the intro:

Business needs more storytelling. It needs more storytellers. This book has taught me the basic elements of a story, and it gave me specific examples of the situations and the kinds of stories a business should tell to inspire change.

The book is written as a parable itself. It’s a story of how squirrels wanted to switch to nut storing, instead of starving every winter. So, with this book you get 2 things in 1: the actual story, and the explanation why the story worked, and how it worked.

You’ll love the book if you’re a business leader, a writer, or an employee struggling to get her message across, to instigate change in her organization, where even the simplest changes are tough.

I’ve had employees completely transform my company in the past. I did not think of it back then, but now that I think about this book, every time someone managed to change my mind, I now realize that they used stories, and that they were great storytellers.

(Side note: consider studying NLP - Neuro-Linguistic Programming - if you want to learn how to tell good stories which transform people.)>

However, I believe that a story in a business setting is like a sauce in cooking: sauces go with almost any meal, but at some point you have to serve the actual meal, too. The sauce is not nutritious enough to drive hunger away. The same with stories: don’t be that guy who only has other people’s stories to tell. Treat your stories as the sauce to the main course. Otherwise, the advice in this book may backfire on you.

[Jay Rain · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating - 6.1

Two interesting comments "people want to be convinced of their idea not your idea" and " the courageous begin a movement but soon become victims to its success" do not equal time well spent

The move to business fiction is growing but this one does not work for me - I can appreciate the use of storytelling but it is only one dynamic and far over-exaggerated by Denning - expected more

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea of the book is interesting but I feel it was a mistake to put majority of the story into the dialogue.
Not only I have to understand business concept but also remember all the names of the characters.

[Stasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good reminder of the power of communication and that we learn and remember items we learn in story form.

[Michalyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the simple, storytelling style of this book. It presents some complex issues in an intuitive way but it seems higher on inspiration than on substance. It's hard to take away anything concrete that can be implemented in real life. Also, at times I felt the author's portrayal of certain archetypal characters was too biased/negative. Still if anything else it's a refreshing take on leadership and a fun read.

[Jen Janicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this book was designed to be an inservice on how to motivate underlings through storytelling, it was just a plain, good read. I did, however, see characteristics of many of my coworkers in many of the main characters.

I would recommend this book for adults in the business world.

[Ann Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intersting. I'm reading it for a workshop I'm developing on Leadership and Storytelling.

[Mario Peimbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

You need to practice to see how the storytelling works. You need to know your public and try to think in the right story to communicate efficently.

[Colin Pearce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah. It's OK. It's well written but the effect it will have on business owners is questionable. Not the fault of the book though.

[Mindaugas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't waste time with this.

[Catherine]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14605607