Reflections on “The Danger of a Single Story”

The Stories We Tell and the Stories We Inherit

Stories shape the way we see ourselves and one another. They hold the power to illuminate or to limit, to restore or to reduce. In her renowned TED Talk The Danger of a Single Story, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie speaks to this power — reminding us that when a single narrative becomes the only narrative, people and places are flattened into stereotypes.

Her words resonate deeply across cultures and generations, including here in Aotearoa. For Māori, the consequences of the single story are visible in the ongoing imprint of colonisation — in deficit statistics that describe disparity without context, and in assumptions that reduce identity to narrow measures of language, location, or practice.

The Power of Story

Adichie’s message is both timeless and timely: the danger of a single story is not that it is false, but that it is incomplete. Every person, whānau, and community carries multiple stories — of resilience, creativity, humour, intelligence, and love — that rarely appear in dominant narratives.

She reminds us that stories are defined by power. Those who hold platforms, policies, or public voice can determine what becomes visible and what remains unseen. When certain stories are repeated — “at risk,” “non-compliant,” “deficient” — they begin to sound like truth, even when they represent only one thread of a much larger tapestry.

In the same way, when success stories, innovation, and joy are under-told, the collective imagination of what is possible becomes constrained. It is not just individuals who are diminished by single stories — it is entire communities, and the potential for mutual understanding that binds us all.

Beyond Deficit – The Multiplicity of Māori Experience

For Māori, single stories often emerge through the lens of deficit data: poorer health outcomes, lower life expectancy, reduced participation. While these figures hold truth, they do not hold the whole truth. They can become a shorthand for identity rather than a call to action for equity.

Not all Māori speak te reo or know their pepeha. Some have never stood on their ancestral marae. Others live far from their tūrangawaewae yet carry their whakapapa deeply in heart and being. None of these realities make anyone less Māori. Our stories are not uniform — they are plural, alive, and shaped by the rhythms of whānau, time, and place.

To live beyond the single story is to recognise the richness of Māori identity as dynamic, diverse, and relational. It is to understand that whakapapa does not narrow who we are — it continually expands who we can become.

Reclaiming Narrative Power

Adichie’s kōrero invites us to reclaim narrative power — to tell our own stories, in our own ways, and to listen with the intention to understand, not simply to respond. In kaupapa Māori spaces, this reclamation is both cultural and spiritual. It acknowledges that our stories are not only accounts of experience; they are vessels of wairua, memory, and possibility.

To tell our stories is to reassert our agency. It is to stand in the mana of our lived realities — the challenges, the triumphs, and everything in between.

When we share these stories collectively, we shift from being described by others to being defined by our own voices.

When we tell our own stories, we restore balance. When we listen to the stories of others with compassion, we repair relationship.

Many Stories, One Humanity

Adichie ends her talk by saying, “When we reject the single story, we regain a kind of paradise.”

That paradise is not naïve optimism; it is restored connection — the space where difference can coexist with dignity.

Every community, every person, carries multitudes. The more stories we make visible, the more we expand our capacity for empathy, imagination, and justice. In leadership, this means creating spaces where people can bring the fullness of who they are — where no one is confined to a single narrative or measured by only one lens of success.

Reflection For Leaders

• What single stories might I have unconsciously accepted — about others, or about myself?
• Whose stories are missing from the spaces where I work, teach, or lead?
• How can I create conditions where multiple narratives are seen, heard, and valued?
• In what ways can I use my voice or platform to amplify stories that restore balance and dignity?

Further Exploration

Explore more through kaupapa-aligned pathways with Manawa Kōkopu:

• Manu Hōmiromiro: Poutama Insights™ – cultivating strategic clarity and thinking rhythm.

• Hā Tārewa: Poutama Flow™ – strengthening embodied presence and relational rhythm.

• Te Puna Kōrero: Poutama Signature™ – refining voice, language, and identity in action.

For the TED Talk itself: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story | TED

Image credit: Tahere, K. (2025). Used with permission.

Author: Megan Tahere. (2025).