Intention, Obstacle, Stakes
Build any story on what the hero wants, what blocks it, and why it matters
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 90%
Adapted from Aaron Sorkin's mantra that he 'worships at the altar of intention and obstacle,' this model reduces storytelling to three ingredients. First, the hero must have an intention, something they clearly want. Second, there must be an obstacle blocking that want, which creates tension. Third, you sprinkle on stakes, the cost of failing, so the audience cares. Puri's key insight is that stakes are relative: they do not have to be life or death, they only have to be believable. If you can convince listeners that the character genuinely feels a small outcome is life-changing, a trivial situation becomes gripping. The skill is arbitrage: because almost nobody is taught this, even a little practice puts you in the top tier of storytellers.
Origin
Shaan Puri took Aaron Sorkin's storytelling masterclass expecting many lessons and found Sorkin repeating one principle: intention and obstacle. Puri added 'stakes' as the elevating third ingredient and tested it live in talks.
Core principles
- 01Every story needs a hero who wants something
- 02Conflict comes from an obstacle in the way of that want
- 03Stakes make the audience care about the outcome
- 04Stakes need not be life-or-death, only believable
- 05A small-stakes story told well beats a big-stakes story told badly
How to run it
- 1
Establish the intention
Open by making clear what the hero wants. Within the first few minutes the audience should be able to name the goal.
Pro tip If you paused any good film in its first five minutes, you could state what the hero wants. Aim for that clarity.
- 2
Introduce the obstacle
Name what stands between the hero and their want. The obstacle is the source of all tension in the story.
Watch out Without a genuine obstacle you have a description, not a story.
- 3
Sprinkle on stakes
Raise what is at risk if the hero fails. Stakes convert a mundane intention-obstacle pair into something the audience feels invested in.
Pro tip Stakes can be emotional and small. A mother's opinion of you can carry a whole story.
- 4
Make the care believable
Convince the audience that the character truly feels this is a life-changing swing. Belief in the character's care is what actually sells the stakes.
Watch out If the audience does not believe the character cares, no amount of manufactured drama will land.
- 5
Escalate as it moves
Let the intention shift or the obstacle grow through the story so tension compounds rather than plateaus.
Pro tip Notice how a hijack story escalates from 'reunite my family' to 'simply survive the flight.'
In the wild
At an executive retreat where everyone competed to describe their biggest crisis, Puri told a low-stakes story instead. Newly moved into his first apartment, he had promised his visiting mother he was a self-sufficient adult and would cook her dinner, though his flat was a mess and he had never cooked. Intention: look like an adult. Obstacle: he was not one. Stakes: his mother's opinion mattered deeply. He described frantically YouTubing how to make Brussels sprouts taste good, having never eaten them. The room loved it because he took a small-stakes situation and told it well.
→ A trivial anecdote out-performed everyone else's high-drama business fires, proving stakes are about believable care, not objective danger.
Puri uses Die Hard to show the model at scale. The hero gets a call early on: he wants to be home with his family. Then a terrorist plot becomes the obstacle. For the entire film the intention never really changes, he is just trying to reach his family, while the obstacle escalates. The elaborate action is scaffolding around one man wanting one thing with something in his way.
→ Illustrates that even blockbuster spectacle reduces to a single want, a single obstacle, and rising stakes.
Common mistakes
No clear intention up front
If the audience cannot tell what the hero wants early on, they have nothing to root for and disengage.
Assuming stakes must be life or death
Believing only grand stakes count leads people to skip small, relatable stories that would actually connect. Believable care beats objective danger.
Is it for you?
Best for
Anyone who needs to make ideas stick: founders, podcasters, marketers, and speakers.
Not ideal for
Pure data transfer or reference material where narrative would obscure the facts.
From the transcript
“I worship at the altar of intention and obstacle.”
“I took a low stakes thing and I told a story well.”
From the episode
7 Semi-Controversial Rules For Success - Shaan Puri - #683
Shaan Puri