C – coffee, communities

Communities feel magical, but they do not come together by magic. There is an order of operations to build & nurture communities. Kai and his co-founders founded People & Company to share the framework for community building. They wrote a handbook, Get Together, published by Stripe Press, an Amazon best-selling book aspires to answer how to build & nurture a community. They also shared stories about grassroots community leaders around the world on their podcast.

D – discourse

Our willingness to have a productive healthy discourse broke down in the past decade. Something went terribly wrong, very suddenly. We are disoriented, unable to speak the same language or recognize the same truth. We are cut off from one another and from the past. Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt wrote an article for the Atlantic, on democracy, social media and how to fix America’s ‘ailing’ institutions

E – ennui, ethos

Our ethos at Fable is to “build-with” our clients. It is better and more fun than building for them. 

F – fable

1. A narration intended to apply a useful truth. Fables are metaphors to share an overarching principles that bridges worlds and souls. 
2. A narrative design studio which exists to help leaders & their organizations align their values and business strategy under a unique perspective. Started by Jo & Kai, a pair who combined their backgrounds in mathematics and systems with their proficiency in storytelling to develop a methodology to build narratives. Less abstract principles, more clear practices. A duo who owns far too many pairs of denims, skateboards, surfboards and books.

I – indelible, ikigai

Ikigai (生き甲斐) is a Japanese philosophy that when literally translated means – a life worth living. Big, small, noble or silly, ‘a life’s purpose’ is a concept that morphs and expands with us. Some struggle to make a living off of their ikigai, or find a new ikigai after a life-changing event. Some keep looking, and that’s fun too. We share this belief that having a clear reason for being is essential to live a meaningful life and for aging gracefully. What’s the point of living a life of purpose if you’re not joyful? Our intention is to help others flourish.

J – jo

Jo is a founder of FABLE. Prior to FABLE, Johanna was a Japanese pop singer turned investment banker in fixed income products, before becoming a freelance writer and Japanese/English translator for the BBC. She is the occasional mathematician, constant reader, and forever mother. Say hello at jo@fable.company 

K – kai

Kai, founder of FABLE, is a monkish (in look) wanderer, who travels the earth to serve his ikigai. He’s a surfer, photographer, father to teenage daughters. A pioneer of Facebook and Instagram’s Growth teams, he co-founded People & Company which was recently acquired by Substack. He’s a co-author of the book Get Together. Say hello at kai@fable.company

L – leadership

There is a storytelling framework for leaders & organizations which can strengthen their capacity to lead and move people towards a collective action. Watch lectures by Marshall Ganz on how to build narratives to drive social movements. Marshall Ganz’s framework on public narrative inspired us to create Fable to help leaders in organizations translate their values in action.

M – meraki

A Modern Greek word, used as a verb, or adverb: to do something with passion, with absolute devotion, with undivided attention. To put one’s soul into the task or work. E.g – ‘Whether it is surfing, cooking, working or playing – do it smiling and with meraki’

N – narrative, north star

North Star is unlike any other star in the sky; it is in the same location every night from dusk to dawn, neither rising nor setting. In business, the North Star is the single metric that best captures the core value that a product delivers to customers and is the key to driving sustainable growth across a full customer base. It helps teams ignore working on surface-level growth to instead focus on generating long-term retained customer growth. We align narrative to our client’s North Star.

T: thich nhat hanh

“Understanding is love’s other name.”