Imagine a leader receiving an intelligence report starting with: "you won't believe what you'll discover in this report".
It opens with a dramatic anecdote (= the hook)
It has a main character, an emotional twist, a clear moral. (= the hero's journey)
It flows, it’s touching.
But it lacks conflicting hypotheses.
No data.
No uncertainty.
No complexity.
That’s not an intelligence report.
That’s a bedtime story.
And yet, this is what the media has become.
And worse - it’s what most “strategic communication” is becoming.
From intelligence to social medias: the rise of emotional propaganda
In the digital age, algorithms reward emotion. Not truth.
Not nuance. Not logic.
This is due to the business model of the medias and their "social medias" counterparts, and some other factors. I explain all of this much more in depth in the course "How to REALLY read the news".
If it doesn’t trigger a reaction, it dies in the feed.
That’s how we got here:
- Media outlets no longer inform. They emote.
- Journalists no longer report. They craft narratives.
- Strategists no longer analyze. They perform.
Social media taught us one lesson:
Emotion = Reach.
So people stopped building strategy.
And started building stories.
I say this as a trained intelligence officer and a former journalist... so let me tell you - I know a thing or two about storytelling.
I know the power of storytelling. We spies use it every day.
To build cover stories.
To win trust.
To manipulate, disarm, recruit, persuade.
I even wrote an article about it, and created a full course about it.
Spies are the best storytellers in the world, because their lives depend on it.
But precisely because I master this tool, I also know its risks.
A good story hides what it doesn’t want you to see.
It simplifies. It selects. It makes meaning - at the cost of truth.
When everyone tells stories, who still sees the raw picture?
Why storytelling is SO dangerous when overused
Because stories are seductive. They are easy to consume.
They have a beginning, a climax, a resolution.
Cognitive neuroscience shows that the brain loves stories: they activate sensory and emotional areas, they increase memorability and they reduce cognitive load.
But strategic thinking requires the opposite:
- Tolerance for ambiguity.
- Capacity to hold conflicting ideas.
- Delayed judgment.
- Pattern recognition without emotional noise.
In short:
Stories comfort.
Strategy disturbs.
The difference between influence and strategy
Storytelling is a tool of influence. It is vital in warfare, diplomacy, propaganda, marketing.
But strategy is very different: it’s about seeing clearly. Acting wisely. Thinking ahead.
If you’re always narrating your life for applause, you’re not thinking, you’re performing.
And the more you perform, the more your judgment is hijacked by your need to be seen. It's a loop. A toxic loop!
This is where most modern leaders and communicators fail.
A strategic mind must know when to use the story - and when to KILL it
Use storytelling as a weapon, not a worldview. Use it when you need to:
- Convince a crowd.
- Build momentum.
- Move hearts.
But turn it off when you need to:
- Prove the truth.
- Help others make a decision.
- Read the battlefield.
Because when everything becomes narrative, reality becomes noise. And well, this is the strange world we're living in. Chaotic stories and parallel realities that never meet anywhere, bringing us away from the truth.
And strategy cannot live in noise.
Vanity metrics are dangerous
Storytelling may inflate your "engagement".
It may even land you speaking gigs. But I've seen it myself since I expose myself on social medias - the moment I actually bring to me the leaders and interesting minds, is NOT when I play the "algogame". It's when I write more complex and strategic posts.
In terms of metrics, they're quite bad. But they touch the right people.
I've had only ONE anomaly, a viral post that went crazy that was deeply analytical and cold. This post exploded all metrics, and I have my own idea of WHY this post worked that well. But that will be for another article.
The pathos that brought you the likes
Will kill the logos you need to survive.
So tell fewer stories. Ask better questions.
Train your mind to think, not perform.
Because in the end, strategy is not a story.
It’s a weapon.