Reflection – Storytelling

Challenge

As the company grows, it attempted to introduce the OKR (Objectives and Key Results) as a new

objective setting system. As the review of the introduction of the new system began, employees

were naturally dissatisfied and anxious about the new system: why we need a new objective setting

system now; how will this new system affect my evaluation; am I excluded from promotion by the

introduction of the new system, and so on. The number of employees was about 500, and we

wanted to introduce a new system for all employees including team leaders and executives. We

aimed to implement the new system with the understanding and empathy of all employees, not in

one direction of top-down.

Selection

Storytelling was the Design Thinking tool we chose to persuade with the understanding and

empathy of all employees. A story was needed to cultivate trust, the foundation of persuasion, and

we thought it was most appropriate to apply Storytelling in order to obtain the hearts of employees

and settle the new system in the organization. Storytelling as one of the powerful Design Thinking

tools puts the human beings and their experience front and center, and takes the listener along on

their journey. Storytelling does not simply convey information, it makes it easier to understand and

remember the information to be conveyed, and has characteristics that elicit emotional commitment

and empathy.

Application

First, the conversation was repeated to find out the source of employee dissatisfaction and anxiety,

and based on this, we tried to include contents related to employee dissatisfaction and anxiety in

the story. It was confirmed that the degree of acceptance of the OKR system was different

depending on the individual's career and circumstances, and the content and degree of

dissatisfaction and anxiety were very different. Accordingly, it was explained that the impact of the

introduction of the OKR system on evaluation and promotion differs by employee type, and it was

tried to tell a story that could alleviate and persuade each group to suit their dissatisfaction and

anxiety. In addition, by including previous experiences and private episodes in the story, the feeling

of skepticism of employees was reduced and an atmosphere in which ideas were easily accepted

was created. The previous experience of responding to a new environment, learning a new culture,

and adjusting to the new environment at the end after a few struggles was especially helpful.

To understand the need for change in order for the company to take a leap forward, a story was

used to explain how the introduction of the OKR system occupies a position in the company's big

vision, situation and future strategy. Through this, we were able to derive more empathy about how

we started this change and how it had an important meaning. In addition, by carrying out a

storytelling that presents a clear direction, focusing on how the work of employees will change by

introducing the OKR system and what can change when employees set new objective and start

working toward that objective, it was intended to promote the actual actions of employees and to

allow them to be accepted as their own stories.

Insight

It is not easy to persuade a person. Although how excellent the proposal is and convey the

content logically, this is because we cannot obtain the other person's heart with that alone. Through

the use of the Storytelling tool in the introduction of the OKR system, we learned that in order to

gain trust and persuade people, it is necessary to tell a high-quality story, and the success or failure

of leadership or system change can be determined by Storytelling. Furthermore, we learned that

Storytelling can be a big power, whether it's a single colleague, an executive or a new employee, a

team, or an entire audience we're trying to persuade. We always want to keep in mind that a clumsy

story can ruin a great idea, but a strong story can elicit empathy even with a frustrating idea.

Approach

If a situation arises that requires the process of persuading based on understanding and empathy,

we will always actively use the Storytelling tool. The next time we use this tool, we want to make

our listeners more confident in the story by speaking more humbly, even the experience of failure.

By showing the other person that we are not always willing to claim that we are correct, we will

learn new things, and we will not hesitate to change directions if necessary, we will build a

considerable level of friendship with them and give the story more power. Lastly, by continuing to

practice telling a good story, we want to have a good influence on our career.

