Story Idea | Expert Source
On INNOVATION and SHOWMANSHIP

ANALYSIS: When you go to the "Big Show" that is the CEO office or the elected political office, remember the key to good showmanship is: opposites.  
 

NEW YORK, January 14, 2008 ---- Alan Fox is the author of the new book "The Seeker In Forever" (February 19, 2008) and the director of StoryFocus Communications. At the heart of his new book is a big idea about INNOVATION, the new use of SHOWMANSHIP as a business and political tool, and what both mean to the business activity of creating NEWS VALUE.

The business he operates is named StoryFocus Communications for a practical reason. In his line of work, there is a common mistake. People think of showmanship as gloss and story as substance. For many, they occupy two separate positions in the mind. Showmanship is P.T. Barnum. Story is Woodward and Bernstein.

A lot of companies, leaders and experts dismiss showmanship. Some scoff at it. They consider it unimportant. That's a misunderstanding. It's common and it's wrong. Showmanship and story occupy the same space. Showmanship equals story. They are the same exact thing viewed from different angles.

Creating strong "story appeal" is supremely important. A lot of businesses and products depend on it. Consequently, people are constantly on the hunt for story appeal.

According to Fox, "story appeal" always depends on "opposites." -- David versus Goliath in politics. Man bites dog in the street. Failure breeds success in business. The medical story of someone who once was blind but now can see. A presidential candidate who lost big and now is 'back from the dead,' surging in the polls. The crooked judge. The innocent villain. And on and on.

Fox says: "My guiding principle is: 'Opposites produce story appeal.' What I mean is the skill of bringing two opposite patterns together to form one new one. That's how to make it innovative. That's how to give it news value."

Fox continues:

The theory covered in my new novel is drawn from business experience. It has been stated by many wise people, many times. The theory is simple: In business, politics and everywhere else, you create story appeal by fusing opposites that have not been put together before, to produce an innovative shape.

Innovation is not just about technology. All industries, all political shifts depend on thought innovation to propel them forward.

I'll skip past theory and go to AN EXAMPLE: CHARLIE CHAPLIN.

Charlie Chaplin's "Tramp" character is an icon. It made Charlie Chaplin, the businessman, very rich and very successful. Now, have you heard the story of the day he invented that character? I've heard it told wrong a few times, which is a shame. Telling the story wrong should be prosecutable under state and federal law. The true story is quite wonderful when you hear Charlie Chaplin tell it himself in his autobiography. It wasn't a random, accidental invention as some people mistakenly tell the story. What Chaplin said went like this . . . Mack Sennett was shooting a film and told him: "We need some gags here. Put on a comedy make-up. Anything will do."

Chaplin then wrote, "I had no idea what make-up to put on. . . . " But he did know he wanted: opposites. He continued, ". . . on the way to the wardrobe I thought I would dress in baggy pants, big shoes, a cane and a derby hat. I wanted everything a contradiction: the pants baggy, the coat tight, the hat small and the shoes large."

He came back and performed his "Tramp" character. It made Mack Sennet roar. So Charlie explained the character to Mack. He said this guy is "a gentleman, a poet, a dreamer -- and always hopeful of love." Again sheer opposites. The whole thing is a symphony of opposites. He gets into clown make-up and what he plays is a dignified gentleman.

Then you consider what he did. He developed stories for the gentleman tramp. The ones we remember are: The little man versus the big man. The little man versus the big institution. The little man versus the big machine.

Opposites. In back of all his innovation lay a fixed principle.

His was a lesson from "The Harvard School of Comedy" and as Charlie Chaplin -- the shrewd businessman -- he presented an example written large for the actual existent Harvard Business School.

The lesson: When you go to the "Big Show" that is the CEO office, remember the key to good showmanship is: opposites.