The story gets pulled towards the popular narrative like a black hole. The prevalent Elon musk narrative is that he’s a genius. But when your narrative is positive, certain facts are forgiven. If you’re not a genius, you’re not a genius. If you’re not a genius, you’re not a genius. If you’re not a genius, you’re not a genius. If you’re not a genius,.

Narrative gravity is like confirmation bias, “the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one’s beliefs.” But with narratives, it’s less about personal beliefs and more of a bandwagon effect, where everyone processes and interprets information through a framework that is both easily digestible and broadly accepted. Narrative gravity is what makes a startup’s story clock tick.

Every business decision your company makes must include a consideration of how it will be interpreted given the prevailing narrative. Any fact even remotely capable of being interpreted consistently with the narrative will be sucked into its orbit.

Black holes might open up a bridge to another part of the universe. Finding a completely different, even distant audience for your message is a great strategy. The important thing is to get out of your bubble and talk to people who don’t know (or don’t care) about what’s consuming those who follow you day to day.

Attempting to tell a turnaround story too soon often Backfires. There's no risk for a reporter to tell a story that Validates what readers may already believe. You have to play a long game, measured in Months—And sometimes Years— as opposed to days or weeks. Angelina Jolie went from Homewrecker to humanitarian over a decade. It took square (the company where I work) more than two years to shake perceived financial issues.

When everything you do is being sucked into a narrative black hole, your credibility goes with it. To rebuild trust, you must be clear and comprehensive in your explanation. If your messenger isn’t credible, you have to replace them with someone who is, she says.