Storytelling

1. Challenge

I work in the Finance and Budget Section (FBS) of a large international organization. We use an  Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software. When a payment is processed, certain background  checks are made against the data. If these checks do not have a positive outcome the payment will  be in error and not be paid. I often have to explain these processes to colleagues from outside of  FBS, so they can understand what they need to do in order for the payment to be released. I have  tried to explain this is financial terms in the past, but this has proven difficult for colleagues to  understand.

2. Selection

To move away from financial concepts, I wanted to relate the process to something, which  colleagues already understand from their lives outside of the office. I felt storytelling could help with  this.  Storytelling is the process of providing people a connection with the piece of information we are  helping them to understand. In doing this, it is important to understand the audience, their own  knowledge and the language that they will be familiar with. It is also important to have a clear  sequence of events in building up the story, so we can take the audience with us.

3. Application

In the ERP there are two background checks made. The first is to ensure that the payments falls  within what has been included in the approved budget. The second is to ensure that there is still  cash available to make the payment. I therefore tell the story as follows:    Imagine that you are going to do your weekly grocery shopping. The first thing you will do is to check  the ingredients and other items that you will need and write a list. This list is like your budget in the  ERP. It is what you need to be able to produce the output that you wish for.   Then you go to the supermarket and carefully only put the items into your trolley that you have  included on your list. You are confident that you have kept to your list.  However, when you get to the till to pay, even if you have been very careful with your choices, if you  don’t have enough cash, or balance on your bank account, you will not be able to buy the items in  your trolley.  Most people seem to have had the experience of getting to the till and then the payment not going  through, so this adds to the understanding of what the background checks in our ERP are set up to  achieve.

4. Insight

Colleagues are understandably frustrated when our ERP does not allow a payment, for which they  are responsible, to go though. They often react by telling me that they have set up the budget and  that it has been approved. This story has allowed me to link the system process to something which  they understand in their daily lives i.e. that they also need to have cash or sufficient balance in their  account, for the transaction to go through. This insight allows them to take appropriate action in the  system.

I have been surprised by how effective this simple story has been and would like to use the  technique more widely.  I am involved in developing and improving processes in our systems, which is why I wanted to  understand more about innovative design thinking. I believe we could gain new insights into these  processes by finding similar examples from our own lives and developing stories around them.

5. Approach

I think story telling was a good approach in the above example. An alternative would have been  visualization, perhaps requesting the colleague to draw the system process as they understood it.  This would show which piece of the process was not clear. However I think would be quite  threatening, since it was mentioned in the course, that people are not confident about their drawing  skills. Storytelling is not threatening and provides a different perspective on an issue, providing  insight and understanding.

