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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My wife, Jill Wortmann, is the reason this book exists. Jill, you encouraged me to get these ideas out there, and you helped to drive this effort from start to finish. Thank you so much for your support, your help in thinking things through, your time spent reading draft after draft, your incisive editing, and most of all for your belief.

I also want to thank two other smart and talented women who bravely read the first draft: my friends Lisa Schumacher and Kara Cardinale. As first drafts go, this thing was really scary. But you persevered, and your suggestions were invaluable. This book is clearer, tighter, and just a lot better thanks to you two.

Between being a dad and husband, writing this book, and running a small company, my schedule was a little nuts for the better part of a year. And there was very little time for fun diversions. So, I also want to thank a very special group of guys, all from one extended family—the Skalinders and Anichs. Gents, thank you sincerely for letting me, a nonrelative, join your ‘BNO’ team, and for giving me a much-needed break right in the middle of an otherwise hectic week.

Many thanks to the incredible team at Kaplan Publishing. Thanks to you all, this experience has been an incredible learning journey for me. Thank you so much for your patience, your support, your powerful ideas, and your enthusiasm. You all went way above and beyond for me at every step. Every author should be so lucky. Eileen Johnson, this was, after all, YOUR idea! You shouldn’t have asked me that fateful question over coffee: “Craig, so you talk about stories a lot… what does that mean?” And Michael Cunningham, your ideas and comments on writing and structure are all over this effort. Thanks for the education you have given me. Michael Shelley, thanks to you for getting the ball rolling by truly understanding the power of stories and WisdomTools. Roy Lipner, you have one helluva team my friend. Thanks for letting me be a part of it.

The illustrations and graphics that you will find here are the work of a very talented designer, Renata Graw. Renata, thank you for taking my chicken-scratch drawings and making them come alive. Your sense of clean but powerful design is inspirational.

And to all of the energetic, talented people of WisdomTools, past and present. They say that a good wine takes time to “cure,” and that it acquires its flavor in each step of the process, from the soil to the sunlight to the aging. WisdomTools is inventing an entirely new way to help organizations be more effective, and each of you added your own flavor to our company. Thank you for helping us build great stories and deliver client delight.

I wrote this book because I wanted to help people, to learn how to write, and to tell my stories in a different way. So I want to acknowledge you, the reader, for joining me in this journey.