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Chimamanda Adichie delivers a compelling springboard story in her video The Danger of a Single Story.  In Denning's The Leaders Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative, Denning lists nine elements or characteristics to a successful spring board story.  Those main elements are:

1. To have a clear and worthwhile change idea communicated by a story.
2. Story is based on actual examples where the change idea was implemented.
3. Story is told through the point of view of a single  protagonist.
4. Protagonist is typical of the audience.
5. The story gives the date and place where it happened.
6. It is clear what would happen without the change idea.
7. The story is told in minimalist fashion.
8. Story has a positive tone and authentically happy ending.
9. Story is linked to the purpose to be achieved in telling it.

Denning (2011) writes "Of all the elements, the four most important are that the idea must be clear and worthwhile and the story must be true, positive, and told in a minimalist fashion." (pg. 64).  In reflecting back on Adichie's video I first examined Adichie's change idea.  She warns her audience that the single story is a type of stereotype that robs people of their identities.  Adichie shares her experience as a child growing up in Nigeria reading British and American children's books.  These books were filled with characters and settings that were not reminiscent of her country of Nigeria.  She speaks of her early writings based solely on the readings she was exposed to and how she had developed a "single story" based on her limited exposure to these materials.  For example she mentions the characters in the books she read all drank ginger beer so in her mind she assumed that everyone must drink ginger beer (even the early characters in her writings).  Children are especially impressionable and I can easily relate to how she could have been influenced by her readings.  As a child (even today I admit) I loved the book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  I wanted so badly to believe that if I looked, I could find a closet that could possibly take me to a magical land like Narnia.  I remember going to my friends and family member's houses and exploring their closets to see if in the very back there might be a magical land filled with mystical creatures.  She notes that the single story and that we are more complex than that.

Adichie gives the example of the house boy her family had and the single story she had of him.  Because he and his family were poor that was the only way she could see them.  She felt bad for him and his family because of the way she viewed them.  It wasn't until she visited with the boy's family that she learned a valuable lesson.  That lesson was "not to judge a book by its cover".  It did not occur to her that someone in the boy's family could be capable of making beautiful baskets because they were poor but that is what this experience taught her.  When she went off to college her roommate had a single story of Adichie.  Her single story of anyone from Africa was that they listened to tribal music and were not familiar with modern appliances.  She too had a stereotype or idea of what one should be.  I too have been guilty of stereotyping.  When I was in the 6th grade we had a big dance.  It was my "single story" that if you were not hispanic or black you could not dance.  How wrong was I!  There was a very pretty redhead girl in our class named Lisa.  Lisa was as "white" as could be but it wasn't long before I found out she was the best dancer in the school.  All of the kids made a circle around her as we all watched her dance like a pro.  Looking back I have to admit I feel guilty for the way I perceived this stereotype being a minority because I know how it is to be made to feel stereotyped.

Adichie is the protagonist of her story and her audience are her peers.  You get a sense that she is being honest and genuine in sharing her experiences.  She shares these stories that were formed when she was a child in Nigeria and later on as a college student in the states.  Adichie also does not go in too to much detail in her stories.  She keeps them basic with little detail.  Adichie recalls the time she went to Mexico and was herself guilty of assigning the people of Mexico a single story based on what the she allowed the media to perpetuate.  She notes that to continue in this manner we do ourselves a dishonesty because we are allowing ourselves to be misinformed of others.  She mentions earlier in her presentation that once she began to read literature from her country she began to see that there was not only a single story of her country and the same applied to other parts of the world.  I think her proudest moment was when she spoke about the work her and her publisher were doing.  They started a non-profit to build and refurbish libraries in Nigeria and were encouraging others to tell their stories through workshops.  This is the happy ending Denning lists as one of his elements.  I think she does a masterful job linking her story to the change idea.  She does so by using "What if ..."  "What if her roommate knew about that female lawyer?  What if she knew about the heart procedure being performed at a local Nigerian hospital?  What if she knew the type of music that was being produced with all of the different influences?"  Would she still have the same story of Adichie?

I think the most important thing I took away from Adichie's presentation was that stories matter.  We can use our stories to empower and dignify who we are and that the single story robs people of their identity.  My stories begin in New York and bring me to Florida.  In my story there is conflict and struggles but they do not complete my story.  My story is still being told and I intend to add many many wonderful chapters to my story.  I look forward to writing it these stories with my family and friends.  These stories will enable me to one day be an influential leader.

Denning, S. (2011). The Leaders Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass