The psychology of case studies (and what that means for business authors)

A case study is a story. That tells you everything you need to know about how to research and write it. Specifically: do not interrupt case study stories with any other type of content.

What you read here comes from experience researching, interviewing, writing, and publishing more than 100 case studies in business books, as well as coaching authors who’ve written hundreds more. I’ve also carefully and critically observed the way authors like Malcolm Gladwell, Daniel Pink, and Jay Baer use case studies.

This is a companion post to last week’s post about what kind of case studies to collect.

Why case studies work

The purpose of a case study is as follows:

• To captivate the reader and retain their attention.
• To cause the reader to empathize with the protagonist or protagonists of the case study.
• To cause the reader to reflect on what they might have done in the same situation.
• To lay the groundwork for frameworks or insights that the author wishes to get across, and lend credibility to those frameworks or insights.

In essence, a case study is the most powerful way to present “proof by example.” You read about an individual or company, observe what they did and what they decided, see the results, and then use that case study story as evidence that the author’s recommendations for what to do and how to do it are the best way to approach a problem.

A case study is most effective when the story is so compelling, and so well connected to the concept the author wishes to get across, that the reader just thinks “Of course, this is exactly right.” In fact, If you tell the story well, the reader will pretty much accept whatever you say just after it. This is not even conscious on the part of the reader — they’ll generally just believe whatever you say if it follows (and follows from) a good story.

No one stops reading in the middle of a story. And everyone loves a story with a compelling ending (either successful or unsuccessful). And when they are feeling that way, they are primed to accept the lesson that the case study carries: the “moral” of the story.

What this means for how to write the case study

The psychology of case studies in business books has significant implications for how to think about the case study and the rest of the text. In particular:

• Quickly describe the protagonist and their situation in a way that the reader will relate to.
• Describe only the portions of the story that directly relate to the protagonist’s problem and potential solutions.
• Include emotional elements, such as how the protagonist and their staff felt and what setbacks they faced. Stories with no challenges, difficulties, or setbacks are boring.
• Do nothing to cast doubt on whether the case study is real or is being described accurately.
• Conclude the story with an actual ending. It’s especially compelling to include numbers (e.g. generated a $2 billion valuation, increased market share by 15%, increased profit margin to 26%, etc.)
• Follow the case study as quickly as possible by the insights or lessons it is intended to teach.

These principles in turn determine how you must research and write the case study:

• Research and target case studies intended to fit a particular framework.
• Attempt to get to the complete narrative including emotional elements in one interview. Often, it’s difficult or impossible to re-interview case study subjects, who are busy executives.
• Write the case study as tightly as possible to accomplish its objectives. No digressions.
• Always tell the story in chronological order, with clearly identified actors and what they did. (This is an insight from storytelling expert Doug Lipman.)
• Whenever possible, use real names and real company names. Anonymized or hypothetical stories are less credible; if you have too many of them, skeptical readers doubt their veracity.
• Where possible, write from actual interviews, not secondhand media accounts.
• Avoid overused and trite case studies that most of your audience has already heard, because they are far less compelling. Readers will be less attentive if they think they already know the lesson of the story.
• Keep the story together and pure. Do not interrupt it with explanatory text. Don’t break it up into pieces. Don’t telegraph the moral in the midst of the story. Don’t do anything to break the spell.

But, but, but . . .

I’ve seen writers break stories into pieces and interpose bits of commentary. I think that’s less effective.

I’ve seen writers interrupt their storytelling to share lessons, then resume. I think that disrupts the reader’s attention to the story.

I’ve seen writers tell stories out of order — with flashbacks and the like — because they thought it was more dramatic. I think that’s harder to follow.

Go ahead, break my rules. It’s your book.

But if you do break these rules, I’m pretty sure you’ll break the storytelling spell. And that would be a shame. Because done well, case studies are magical. They’re time-consuming to source and research, but they add both entertainment value and credibility to business books. And that’s not something you should discard lightly.