Our brains are not computers. They are storytellers.

One powerful insight we get from cognitive science is that our brains store information through narratives. These then come to impact how we handle future situations. 

In the last article, I discussed why narratives should matter to leaders. I described how narratives are not just stories, but 'messages' that can become potentially powerful motivators for the ways in which we do things. They matter because leaders project these outwardly, setting set the tempo, dynamic and trajectory of those who look up to them for guidance.

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Here, I want to focus on how these narratives impact our futures in more detail, looking especially at the ways in which our brain interprets the world around it.

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Firstly, some basics: thinking in narrative (or story) form comes naturally to us. We remember things by a setting, a beginning, some reaction, some effort, some outcome, and an ending. This is the general way we code, organize and retrieve information according to Professor of cognitive science Jean Mandler.

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In fact, early studies into Artificial Intelligence (AI) showed how our memories are in fact coded through narrative. AI was itself borne out a desire by scientists to understand the human mind's ability to store mass amounts of data, and how it accesses this efficiently. The desired outcome was to reproduce this in machines

 I want to focus on a particular insight that was made while scientists were studying this.

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MIT Professor of cognitive science, Marvin Minsky (also an early pioneer into AI) found that humans store memory and come to interpret new situations based on what he called 'narrative frames'. What are narrative frames? Well, our brain has 'scripts' that it holds on to, like a filing cabinet, and this is used to order our actions; for example, how to play football or chess.

Frames are higher level: think of them like "skeleton forms" for typical stories (or explanations, arguments) which our brain uses to help us deal with new scenarios, topics and activities. For example, if you went to a new restaurant tomorrow and saw a menu you didn't recognize, you would still be able to piece together enough information to be able to understand that it was a menu (noticing that the menu has starters, mains, desert and a drinks section – or even certain dishes). A frame is something we remember that helps us to adapt to a new reality by changing details as necessary.

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Think about the outbreak of Covid-19 and how we sought to handle it: discussion inevitably went to Ebola, SARS or even the great Spanish Flu 100 years before. As Minsky argues "some of this information is about how to use the frame. Some is about what one can expect to happen next. Some is about what to do if these expectations are not confirmed". Frames, in essence, help us deal with new situations by relying on the familiar.

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Clearly, then, our brain is geared to thinking - and remembering - in narrative form. We deal with new situations based off of these memories, memories which form 'frames' for dealing with new situations.

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This knowledge is liberating. Because if we know how our brain works, we can begin to reflect on our own personalities and leadership styles. We can think proactively about how the things that we do, or the ways in which we react to situations, are based on frames that are producing consistently bad results. It forces us to assess our own biases and mechanistic way of dealing with situations, and can potentially turn us into proactive agents rather than ones stuck in autopilot.

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In short, this knowledge helps us to begin the journey of re-wiring our cognitive functions to produce more positive results.