Lean Startup: Learning Through Stories

In less than two days, I have the honor of giving a talk at the Lean Startup Conference. My topic? Learning Through Stories.

That’s pretty personal for me, since sharemorestories.com has focused on helping people share their stories since our launch.

And putting it mildly, it’s been an interesting, challenging and rewarding journey so far.

When I embarked on this journey, I had the benefit of years of Fortune 500 brand building and new product / new business strategy experience. But that was a different journey. Sure, I knew I would leverage some of the skills I had gained, but the experience of starting something new would be quite different. A wise friend told me to read the Lean Startup before I did anything else. And that’s exactly what I did. For two weeks, during my initial decision-making phase, I read (or listened to) the Lean Startup. It totally resonated with me, inspired me and encouraged me to make the leap.

And as I’ve mentioned before, shortly after we launched, another wise friend told me that things would not turn out the way I expected, but I would learn a lot along the way. That has certainly been the case.

So, since I love stories, I wrote one about our journey, and Lean Startup was kind enough to publish it on their blog. At its core, this story is about what we learned and how we learned it. In other words, it’s a story about stories, and more specifically, what we – and you – can learn from them.

Here’s an excerpt:

I still had to reconcile myself to the fact that the business was shifting. I had to get comfortable turning my gaze.

And finally, I did. I yielded.

I yielded to the insights that were staring me in the face. I heeded the stories people were sharing on the platform and sharing with my team and with me in person.

I reflected on what we had learned about what people wanted to share… and what they didn’t. I explored what connection and community might mean if seen through a broader lens. And I finally paid attention to the fact that personally, this was probably meant to be, since I had spent the vast majority of my career in brand management and communications. (Oh, did I forget to mention that?)

I let our shared narrative go in the direction it needed to go. And I also surrendered the notion that the platform had to be a certain way in order for me to feel like I was fulfilling my purpose.

And with that realization, we began to pivot. And this is when things got really exciting.

You can read the rest on the Lean Startup blog. And, I hope you remember that your journey is full of stories, too. All you have to do is share them, and learn from them.