A short story
There’s a guy in reception to see you, he’s got a big black box.
What does he want?
He says he’s a creative writer.
I thought all writers were supposed to be creative.
I dunno, maybe it sounds better than writer on its own.
Whatever, why does he want to see me?
He said he’s really optimistic about our company.
I am pleased to hear it but what has this got to do with me?
Maybe this is how he chooses his clients.
I see, he just hangs out in reception of companies he’s optimistic about?
He did seem to believe he had a good reason to be here.
Spooky! Anyway what’s his name?
He didn’t say.
Can’t someone else see him – I’m busy.
He insists on seeing you.
We run an open company here, we have no secrets.
Shall I ask him to leave?
I don’t need a creative writer, everyone around here can write, okay!
He wants to help us to communicate our philosophy.
That’s what marketing does isn’t it?
Do they? Anyway I’ll ask him to leave.
Tell him I’m busy but he can leave his box of tricks. I’ll take a look at it later.
He may not be prepared to do that.
Tell him he can pick it up tomorrow, any time.
Here it is. He hopes you find it useful, it’s yours to keep.
Really! It’s huge …‘The Creative Writer’s Pack’
Go on, open it up.
I can’t, it’s locked – is he still out there?
No he left immediately, he wasn’t at all put out.
How I am supposed to open this?
You’re not going to believe this. He said, ‘Tell him to say Abracadabra.’
You’re kidding me – that’s a joke …Abracadabra!
It’s not, look it’s opening, the lid is opening!
It could be a bomb! Quick….
No, it’s full of books, old children’s storybooks…
Yeah, and they’re all crumbling to bits. I’ve had enough – tell him to come back for his box right now, call him on his mobile.
I don’t think that’s a good idea.
Are you telling me you know what this is about?
Perhaps it’s about how the power of language can create the world we live in.
So we have got to start telling each other kids stories, ‘Once up on a time there was a petrochemical company that dreamed of world domination.‘ Get real.
It’s not that simple. The creative writer uses language to help create the company we want to be.
We have a mission statement, thank you.
It’s not a mission statement, more a dialogue with our vision of the future.
Hang on a minute, I remember that book, my mother used to read that to me. How could he possibly know? I am not kidding you, those are my actual books! Those are all my books!
January 12, 2010
Great story, Jonathan! It reminds me of that quote from Einstein – something about being trained for his amazing adult thinking by the fairy tales he read in childhood. It resonates with me as I’ve just written two posts about that “anyone can write” approach – one humorous one on TiaTalk (When Orality met Literacy) and one for the yet-to-be business blog I’m working on.