Good work dies in obscurity every day simply because the stories that could carry these solutions to decision-makers aren't getting told widely enough or loudly enough.
Societies have always needed people who can build these kinds of bridges between what we know and what we can do about it. In traditional West African society, these bridge-builders were called griots1.
A griot was a cultural guardian, a political advisor, a historian, an entertainer: in a nutshell, a primary storyteller of their people. A griot was what the English would call a bard, the Greeks an Aesop, the Indians a Bhāt and the Gaelics a seanchaí. Across the world, these characters were trusted by those with the power to make decisions and, as a result, held the keys to influence. One scholar has said that such "bards had the power to make, or unmake kings", so it’s unsurprising that the British removed Bhāts from their positions of authority when they colonised India.
Griots were so respected that they would act as mediators, settling disputes and negotiating peace between hostile parties. They acted as a bridge to peace, information and insight, making way for ideas to be heard. Over the course of centuries, griots would have influenced thousands of decisions.
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A modern-day griot in the world of innovation is someone who tells the stories of why innovative solutions matter, connecting ideas to human experiences and making the abstract tangible enough to inspire action.
Niti Bhan is one of today’s griots. A researcher and innovation strategist who works on human-centered design for emerging markets, she captures the stories of people in the informal economies of Africa and Asia. Through her blog and her work with platforms like the Emerging Futures Lab, she has documented how street vendors in Nairobi adapt mobile technology to manage finances, or how rural farmers in India innovate with limited resources to solve agricultural challenges. Her TED Talk is an entry point to these innovations for audiences who would never encounter them otherwise.
Niti Bhan helps funders, policymakers, and innovators understand the context of their work on a deeper level through framing data and insights within compelling stories. This storytelling approach ensures that innovations are rooted in lived experiences, making them more effective and equitable. She carries forward the griot tradition of memory, meaning and imagination.