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Twists and Turns Tell Tales
Every Tuesday, The Productive Disruptive delivers storytelling science, message makeovers, cultural commentary, and a little rebellious hope for anyone still stubborn enough to believe communication can change the world.
Dorian Johnson
September 02, 2025
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Some moments don’t give you the luxury of staying the same.
You get shoved out of your comfort zone, ready or not.
And suddenly, you’re in a whole new scene you didn’t plan for.
A plot twist, if you will.
You feel for the character. But at the same time, it was something you know they needed.
I mean, their world just got rocked, beyond their control.
They likely would’ve sat on that fence forever if they could’ve.
And what a boring story that would’ve been.
Imagine just watching Dwight literally sit on a fence for a standard 8-hour slumber?
The plot twist was a catalyst, and without it, both people (and plots) would just loop on repeat…
The story doesn’t start until the doorway appears.
Catalysts are doorway moments.
They push you from fence-sitting to future-shaping.
From looping to leaping.
From pause to plot.
One second, you’re in a room that feels predictable.
Then life creaks open a door, sometimes softly, sometimes swiftly.
You can stall, sulk, or scramble all you want.
But you know what you can’t do?
Go back to before the doorway moment.
And that’s where a story gets reaaaaally interesting.
Like “oooh, what’s about to happen” interesting
🧠 Story Science Side Note: Educators have a name for these shove-you-forward moments: disorienting dilemmas. We dodge decisions until a threshold moment pushes us past procrastination. In learning science, these disruptions are where transformation begins(and they are so good for stories).
In PHuncle terms?
It’s the “well shit, we gotta do something” moment.
A Catalyst in Real Time
Just look at the CDC.
One day, steady leaders were guiding the ship.
The next day, the Director was ousted, and senior officials resigned.
That’s a collective disorienting dilemma.
The comfort of “someone else has it handled” got ripped away.
In yet another plot twist in the world of Public Health. Though it forces new questions. For me, the biggest being:
How do we protect public health when the institutions meant to steady us feel shaky?
It’s messy and maddening.
But it’s also clarifying.
Because the story can’t stall here.
The catalyst demands a decision.
Catalysts don’t only push us into new stories, they hand us the pen to write them better.
📝 Message Makeover: Disorienting Dilemma → Wake-Up Call
I really love the alliteration of the former, but like.. all them syllables, for what?
Both mean the same thing: a shove that shakes your assumptions and forces a choice.
That turn in life, propels the story.
🛠️ The PHacilitator’s Corner:
Write three lines:
Line 1: The “before” (what’s “normal? The fence sitting moment).
Line 2: The shove (the wake-up call, an event that shook things up where a decision has to happen).
Line 3: The “after” (the doorway opened and they are pushed through it, what are their choices? How will they climb out of their current reality)?
👉 You just drafted a micro-story with a catalyst baked in.
In communities, catalysts might look like job loss, eviction, illness, or policy change, the kinds of shoves nobody asks for, but that force decisions all the same.
And yet, public health is proof that catalysts can work the other way, too.
A campaign that sparks a conversation.
A story that reframes what’s possible.
A resource that nudges someone forward before a crisis hits.
We don’t always get to choose the shoves. But we can choose the stories we tell about them.
And sometimes(hopefully), we even get to design the doorway moments that move people toward change.
Deuces Gooses
PS: ICYMI, I launched a short eBook Story Sauce last week. If you’ve ever stared at stats and thought, “How do I make this land?” this is your shortcut. If you’re interested, check it out!
