Nevertheless, storytelling has tremendous power, and it would be surprising if this mixture did not also invite abuse. I therefore want to delve deeper into this dark side. In this article, mainly how it looks. Later, I will say something about ways to recognize such abuse, how to cope with it – or even better: how to construct a storytelling process (not really a process in the traditional sense of organizational science) that is resilient to such abuse.

Four Archtypes of Manipulative Storytelling

Some negative patterns of storytelling recur regularly. They are actually easy to recognize if you know how to read the signs. I call these archetypes, in analogy to my metaphor of the four sisters of sensemaking, the four witches of confusion.

1. Narrative Colonization

Dominant narratives often overshadow alternative perspectives, marginalizing voices that do not align with the established story. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s concept of the “single story” illustrates how one perspective, when repeated and institutionalized, becomes the only recognized truth.

In organizations, narrative colonization manifests in histories that erase contributions of certain groups, cultural stories that reinforce the status quo, and leadership narratives that frame dissent as disloyalty.

Notorious example: A multinational corporation celebrates its legacy of innovation while neglecting to acknowledge the contributions of early employees and overlooked contributors from diverse backgrounds.

2. Gaslighting Through Selective Storytelling

Gaslighting occurs when selective storytelling is used to construct a misleading version of reality. This often involves omitting crucial details, reframing past events, or selectively highlighting successes while ignoring failures.

Notorious example: A toxic leader manipulates organizational history by presenting past failures as the fault of previous teams while taking credit for inherited successes. Employees begin doubting their own recollections, leading to a culture of confusion and passivity.

3. False Urgency and Crisis Narratives

Urgency is a powerful motivator, but when wielded dishonestly, it becomes a tool for bypassing critical thinking and rational decision-making.

The “burning platform” dilemma: While a genuine crisis may necessitate quick decisions, fabricated or exaggerated crises serve as a justification for pushing unpopular changes and suppressing debate.

Notorious example: A CEO declares an existential financial crisis to justify mass layoffs, only for reports to later reveal stable profit margins and executive bonuses.

4. Heroic Storytelling and Ego-Driven Narratives

The Cult of the Hero

Organizations often romanticize singular figures, attributing collective achievements to the brilliance of one individual. This erasure of collective effort distorts reality and discourages a culture of shared success.

Notorious example: Silicon Valley’s obsession with founder myths, where charismatic leaders are credited with all innovation, ignoring the contributions of early employees, advisors, and support networks.

Savior Complexes in Leadership

Some leaders position themselves as indispensable by crafting narratives where only they can navigate challenges. This fosters dependency, discourages empowerment, and stifles organizational resilience.

Notorious example: A turnaround CEO implements short-term wins while suppressing emerging leaders, ensuring the company remains reliant on their leadership rather than fostering sustainable success.

Organizational Propaganda eats Authentic Narratives

Just as there are recurring patterns for problematic or toxic narratives, many of the processes by which they arise are also similar.

1. Values Statement morphing into Fiction

Organizations often craft grand narratives around their core values, but when these stories do not align with reality, they breed cynicism and disengagement.

Notorious example: A company wins awards for its workplace culture while experiencing high turnover, burnout, and internal dissatisfaction.

2. The “Happy Family” Toxic Narrative

Framing an organization as a “family” can be a manipulative tactic to suppress dissent, enforce loyalty, and discourage professional boundaries.

Notorious example: A company insists “we’re all family here” while expecting employees to work excessive hours without compensation, framing objections as a betrayal of the collective.

3. Progress Narratives That Mask Regression

Storytelling is often used to portray an illusion of progress by selectively presenting data that supports a preferred narrative while obscuring declining conditions.

Notorious example: A company boasts “industry-leading” employee engagement scores while neglecting to mention that these scores are based on selectively reported metrics, not comprehensive feedback.

Conclusion

Storytelling holds immense power in shaping organizational culture, decision-making, and leadership. However, this power carries ethical responsibility. Leaders and organizations must remain vigilant against the manipulation of narratives for control, exclusion, or self-interest. By fostering authentic, inclusive, and transparent storytelling, organizations can cultivate a culture of trust, accountability, and genuine progress.

The next article in this series will explore the countermeasures, cognitive mechanisms behind storytelling, examining how narratives shape perception, memory, and decision-making.

References

• Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. 2009. “The Danger of a Single Story.” https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.
• Boje, David. 2011. “Narratives as Sources of Stability and Change in Organizations.” Annals of Business Research 5 (2): 89–104. https://davidboje.com/vita/paper_pdfs/Narratives_Annals.pdf.
• Gordon, George, and Sarah Nichols. 2023. “A Narrative Approach to Exploring Values in Organisations.” In Exploring Values and Ethics in Organizational Culture, 245–62. Springer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-90769-3_11.
• Sonenshein, Scott. 2010. “Organizational Storytelling, Ethics and Morality: How Stories Frame Limits of Behavior in Organizations.” Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies 10 (2): 4–9. https://ejbo.jyu.fi/pdf/ejbo_vol10_no2_pages_4-9.pdf.
• Team, Axios Editorial. 2024. “Lead with Integrity: Explore the Ethics of Organizational Change.” https://www.axios.com/sponsored/lead-with-integrity-explore-the-ethics-of-organizational-change.
• Khodur et al. 2023. “The Power of Organizational Storytelling: The Story of a Company in Times of Transformation.” Corporate Governance and Organizational Behavior Review 7 (3): 16–30. https://virtusinterpress.org/IMG/pdf/cgobrv7i3p16.pdf.

Foto: jurien huggins, Unsplash

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When I started my research, I noticed something that I hadn’t conciously noted before: there are quite different meanings, techniques and mechanisms at work in storytelling.

I found some variants of storytelling that emerge in different environments, from organic, emergent narratives to structured hero-driven tales. I found also failed and toxic storytelling, including manipulative narratives designed to deceive, heroic storytelling that over-glorifies individuals while erasing collective effort, and tame storytelling, which sanitizes complexity and avoids necessary conflict.

Today I start with myths, the wild side of story telling.

Emergent narratives

I want to introduce with my hero Claude Lévi-Strauss, pioneering anthropologist and structuralist, who extensively analyzed myths and stories in human societies. His work focused on the deep structures underlying myths across cultures, arguing that myths serve as a form of universal human expression structured by binary oppositions (e.g., life vs. death, nature vs. culture, raw vs. cooked).

He viewed myths as a kind of “language” shared by all human societies. He argued that despite their diverse content, myths across cultures follow similar structures, revealing fundamental human thought patterns.

Bridging Myth and Science
Levi-Strauss compares myth to music, noting how both operate through recurring patterns and themes. For him, myths are not just tales but serve as a collective way for societies to make sense of contradictions and maintain cohesion.

Example: The Myth of the Trickster
One of the most analyzed myths in his work is the trickster figure, found across cultures (e.g., Coyote in Native American myths, Loki in Norse mythology). The trickster often embodies contradictions—both creator and destroyer, hero and villain—showing how myths help societies navigate ambiguity.

Business Storytelling

This structuralist view to mythology and storytelling provides insights into how businesses craft and use narratives, to understand the deep structures underlying their stories.

Myths as Structural Foundations for Business Culture

Lévi-Strauss argued that myths serve as frameworks through which societies organize meaning. Businesses, like societies, rely on foundational stories to define their identity, values, and purpose.

• Example: some companies have origin myths around a visionary founder, e.g., Steve Jobs and Apple. These narratives structure how the company’s mission is perceived.
• Insight: Internal myths shape decision-making and employee engagement. Going with the flow of emerging stories has a much stronger impace than reinforcing outdated narratives and supports redefining identity in times of transformation.

Binary Oppositions in Business Narratives

A core idea in Lévi-Strauss’ theory is that myths are structured through binary oppositions—concepts that appear in tension but help make sense of the world. Examples are nature versus technology or chaos versus order. Businesses analogues of such contrasts could be tradition versus oinnovation or startup versus corporate.

• Example: The “disruptor vs. incumbent” (e.g., Tesla vs. legacy automakers), is a classic business story that mirrors the myths of trickster figures challenging the established order.
• Insight: Using these patterns allows an organization to craft narratives that strategically position themselves, e.g., as the bold innovator overturning an old system.

Resolving Contradictions

Lévi-Strauss believed that myths serve to mediate contradictions in human thought. Similarly, business storytelling often functions to reconcile tensions between competing priorities.

This is an especially important aspect, as it takes into account that reality is usually too complex for simple solutions or binary decisions. It allows you to leave things in limbo, understand complexity, and more easily find non-binary answers.

• Example: The tension between profit vs. purpose. Sustainable brands (e.g., Patagonia) use storytelling to bridge this contradiction, portraying profitability and environmental responsibility as complementary forces rather than opposing goals.
• Insight: Be mindful of the contradictions your audiences perceive and use storytelling to reframe these tensions in a way that enables alignment rather than conflict.

Levi-Strauss’ Four-Volume Mythologiques Series
His most famous work, Mythologiques, consists of four volumes where he analyzes myths across the Americas to uncover their deep structures:
The Raw and the Cooked (1964) – Examines myths about food preparation, revealing symbolic oppositions between nature (raw) and culture (cooked).
From Honey to Ashes (1966) – Explores myths related to sweetness, bitterness, and food taboos.
The Origin of Table Manners (1968) – Studies the socialization of eating and its symbolic meaning in myths.
The Naked Man* (1971) – Concludes the series by connecting mythology with human perception and experience.

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