Writing a business book as a novel, something that Goldratt helped make popular, was widespread for a while. This trend led to criticisms of business books being "light fluff", instead of serious works. Novelization improved the breadth of readership and sales of the book, making it a good business model. Popular novelized business books include Who Moved My Cheese, and The One Minute Manager.
Though many people think of humans as the species that communicates, that is not exactly true. Many animals signal each other to convey important information. Only humans, as far as we can tell, tell stories. We have been practicing storytelling for millennia.
Most of us get sucked into a story whether told by a masterful storyteller or a 3-year-old child. When we do, two important things happen: we project ourselves onto the hero and we suspend disbelief. These effects together create a psychological openness to ideas difficult to replicate in other ways.
Storytelling as an educational tool has strengths and weaknesses. As Duane and Michael illustrate in this discussion, not everyone appreciates the approach. And Robert is right in pointing out the flaws in the story.
Yet, the story allows us to step out of our personal history and see the world through the eyes of another, thinking their thoughts and feeling their feelings. Personalizing the story by projecting into the protagonist creates a tendency to remember the point of the story much longer. The story becomes part of our personal story, at least at an archetypical level.
Learning is more than the efficient ingestion of facts. Learning is also about creating culture, where thoughts, ideas and feelings merge into the daily actions that improve the life of a culture's denizens. Therefore, for thousands of years, peoples throughout the world have passed on their important lessons through stories. So, while listicles and textbooks filled with bullet points have their place, so do stories.