You’ve heard it before:

So you do what most people do: you punch it up. Sharper verbs. Shorter sentences. Add some urgency to the tone.

But the problem isn’t pace. It’s pressure.

Or more specifically—the lack of it.

Earlier this week, we discussed how most B2B creators aren’t intentionally working with competing values. They’re operating on instinct, not narrative tension.

So when someone says, "something feels off," you hear, "you can't get it right."

If you care about craft this kind of feedback lands like a dagger through the heart.

You feel exposed, unsure what’s missing, and even more unsure how to fix it.

Meanwhile, the content stalls.

Production slows.

People settle for the version everyone can agree on—not because it’s great, but because it’s safe.

After too long, something in you stops pushing. Stops fighting.

This isn’t about "adding energy."

When they say, "make it dynamic," what they mean is "make the values shift and evolve."

Because when values shift—when they sharpen, contradict themselves, and force new choices—your story doesn’t just move. It builds.

The real question is...

Let’s find out.

Values Have Layers

Flat values are the hallmark of freestyling—intuitive setups that never shift, stretch, or contradict themselves.

If you pull them out without thinking of them, you feel them at the start of a piece, but they don’t evolve. They don’t move. Without movement, there’s no momentum.

Let’s look at a classic example of Order vs Chaos in film:

"The Devil Wears Prada"

On the surface, it’s simple:

• Order: Discipline, image, precision, hierarchy.
• Chaos: Self-expression, authenticity, not caring what people think.

You watch as Andy trades chaos for order. She sharpens her appearance. She stops resisting structure. She wins—kind of.

But it doesn't stop there.

Halfway through the film, the tension evolves. What begins as Order vs. Chaos becomes something deeper:

• Loyalty vs. Ambition
• Belonging vs. Becoming
• External success vs. Internal identity

That’s what makes the story satisfying.

If it had stayed in that original “jeans and lattes vs. high heels and deadlines” setup, it would’ve gotten stale. But because the values shift shape, the story stays alive. And with each shift, the philosophical conflict deepens. What starts as a debate about behavior becomes a challenge to belief—until the story isn’t just about what the character does, but who they’re allowed to become.

How This Plays Out in B2B Content (Order vs. Chaos)

Let’s take a topic like remote work.

At first glance, the value conflict looks straightforward:

• Order: Clear schedules, centralized communication, in-office structure.
• Chaos: Flexibility, asynchronous work, location independence.

But if you stay at that level, you’re just echoing the surface-level debate—spinning your wheels in the same vague tension, hoping a sharper word will somehow fix a flat idea.

For a creator already on the edge of burnout, stuck trying to make lifeless ideas come alive, this isn’t just tiring. It’s personal. It’s a slow erosion of belief in the work.

The deeper version is where it gets interesting:

Order becomes control—not just over hours, but over visibility and perceived productivity.

Chaos becomes trust—letting go of micromanagement in favor of outcomes.

Then it evolves again.

Order becomes fairness: same rules, same expectations.

Chaos becomes adaptability: letting people work the way they work best—even if it’s not uniform.

Eventually, the piece isn’t just about where people work. It’s about the kind of culture a company wants to build.

Are we a company that defines success by compliance—or by creative resilience?

Also, notice in the image how each new value asks a different question? As you move through each new phase of the piece, you answer one question which leads to a new one, and another one, and another, and the answers to each become progressively deeper, until ultimately, you answer the main philosophical conflict of the piece.

That’s how we hold tension.

And if you can hold that tension, your content becomes more than a position. It becomes a point of view worth defending.

Two Interpretations of the Same Value Conflict

Version A: Favoring Order

Opening tension: Remote work has made it harder to track performance, build culture, and stay aligned.

Value evolution:

• Chaos is freedom—but freedom without structure becomes fragmentation.
• Order starts as process… then becomes consistency, cohesion, and shared momentum.
• By the end, Order isn’t about control—it’s about trust through clarity.

Closing idea: The most successful remote teams aren’t the ones with the most freedom. They’re the ones who build systems that turn chaos into rhythm.

Version B: Favoring Chaos

Opening tension: Remote work has revealed how arbitrary most corporate structure really is.

Value evolution:

• Order starts as helpful—but quickly calcifies into bureaucracy.
• Chaos begins as flexibility… then becomes autonomy, creative problem-solving, and human-centered work.
• By the end, Chaos isn’t destruction—it’s reinvention.

Closing idea: You don’t build the future of work by copying the past in a new location. You build it by trusting people to design the system they need next.

Each one explores the same values—but tips the scale toward a different truth.

In doing so, each version does something most content doesn’t: it makes a decision. It finds direction. For a creator stuck in ambiguity, that decision doesn’t just sharpen the message—it can feel like a return to momentum, a signal that the work matters again.

That’s not messaging. That’s narrative.

Values Live in People, Not Just Pages

In stories, the protagonist might embody one value… but it’s the other characters who test it.

Batman believes in Order. The Joker pushes Chaos. Gotham is caught in the middle. That’s why the tension works: it’s distributed across a cast.

The same thing happens in content—whether you realize it or not.

In B2B, different people on your team are holding different values:

• The CEO wants Order: repeatability, clarity, reputation.
• The brand strategist leans toward Chaos: originality, voice, experimentation.
• The audience? Somewhere in between—skeptical, curious, waiting to be pulled in.

This matters—especially to the creator stuck between their own standards and the team’s desire to just get it shipped.

It’s the moment where personal conviction collides with collaborative compromise, because your job as a storyteller is to hold the conflict, not resolve it too fast. That means letting each value speak through different voices, job roles, and moments in the piece.

For example, in a thought leadership piece, Order might show up in the headline: clear, authoritative, credible. Chaos might show up in a a key moment of contrast—an unexpected insight, a burst of vulnerability, or a deliberate shift in rhythm.

Let the values breathe. Let them clash. That’s where the story finds shape.

You Can’t Afford to Not Choose a Value

Every story tilts. When it doesn’t—when no value leads, when no truth sharpens—the piece doesn’t just feel flat.

It feels weightless.

Invisible compromises pile up: softer language, safer choices, unclear voice. Over time, that drain isn’t just creative. It’s emotional. You start to question whether any of it matters.

Even when you try to hold both sides equally—audiences can feel where the energy leans.

So the question isn’t should you choose a lead value. It’s: Do you know which one you’re already favoring—and what it’s costing you?

Most brands don’t choose. They split the difference.

They say:

It sounds like nuance. But often, it’s just fear in a better outfit.

When you don’t choose a lead value, one of three things happens:

1. Your audience gets confused.
2. Your team starts second-guessing.
3. Your story collapses under the weight of compromise.

Choosing a lead value doesn’t mean abandoning the other. It means setting the terms of the fight.

You still hold the tension. But now, it has direction.

Example: What Choosing a Lead Value Actually Looks Like

Let’s say your company is writing a statement about how it supports innovation.

❌ Neutral (No Lead Value)

That sounds… fine. But it’s forgettable. It splits the difference. No edge. No weight.

✅ Order-Leaning Version

Same values. Different priority. Order is the lead. Chaos is the undercurrent.

✅ Chaos-Leaning Version

Now Chaos leads. But Order’s absence is still felt—and that tension is what gives the statement its bite.

Choosing doesn’t limit you. It focuses you. And focus is what makes the message stick.

Resolution Is the Message

Every piece of content ends on a beat. A punchline. A statement. A shift.

And that beat tells your audience something.

Maybe it’s:

Even if you didn’t mean to say it, you said something. Because whichever value wins in the final moment—that’s what sticks.

That’s why knowing your values isn’t enough. You need to know where the story lands.

If your piece favors Order in the setup, but Chaos walks away unchallenged in the close, that’s the message: Break the system.

If Chaos runs wild in the body, but Order restores balance at the end, that’s the message: Disruption needs a container.

Every story is a value argument. And the conclusion isn’t about being clever. It’s about being honest about which truth you’re asking your audience to carry forward.

Because values aren’t just what your story is about. They’re what your audience remembers.

Put Your Values to Work

You’ve named your values. You’ve seen how they evolve, shift, and drive the story.

Now it’s time to make that usable—repeatable—scalable.

The Narrative Design Toolbox is your next move:

• 20 core principles
• Real examples from iconic content, film, and campaigns
• Short videos, quick frameworks, and hands-on exercises
• Built for creators, strategists, and leads who need their content to move people—not just fill space

If you want your stories to land with weight, tension, and clarity, this is how.

It’s not just a framework. It’s a way of seeing.

And once you see it, you won’t want to go back.

​Join the waitlist here.​

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Tommy Walker | The Content Studio​ ​

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