Storytelling Reflection

Challenge  I unknowingly walked into a monster of a challenge recently.  What makes it worse is that I had to pay a  lot of money to encounter this challenge.  My wife and I bought a small waterfront cottage as a  weekend getaway. At the time of our purchase I realized there was a risk of erosion, however I didn’t  know the magnitude of the issue.  Within five months we already lost one quarter of the sand dunes  between our house and the water.  The other neighbors had been in the area for 20-40 years and did  not seem concerned.  They explained that the water used to be close to their houses many years ago  and that the sand washed in with the water to create a very wide beach.  They were confident that sand  would once again arrive, so they did not want to take any action.  We were the new kids on the block  who did not know anything about the area, so why would anyone listen to us?

Selection & Application  Storytelling was a natural fit for this challenge.  My neighbors did not see the problem at all, but I  needed to get us all working together on a solution before it was too late.  Storytelling is a great way to  engage others with a “big wicked problem” (as it is called in the video.)  I arranged a neighborhood  meeting and needed to create a compelling presentation that would stir them to action.  I followed the  outline from the video:

1. Know the audience – I spent time getting to know my neighbors.  I learned about their thoughts

about the beach and why they had those thoughts.

2. Show a clear sequence of events – In my presentation I included a timeline of activities

3. Build suspense – I used images and other data to show that the erosion problem was coming

our way without a doubt.

The presentation I made to the neighbors used a narrative to develop the big wicked problem just as the  video said:

•  Sell the challenge – I pointed to a neighborhood to our south as an example of what will happen  if we do not take action.

•  Create fellowship – I cited case studies showing that the best results happen when many  homeowners use the same approach to address the problem.  I pointed to familiar locations  nearby that failed to address the problem because neighbors did not cooperate.

•  Show that the challenge can be solved – I created diagrams of potential solutions that had  worked in other locations.

•  Allow time to talk about the tension – At the end of the presentation I allowed time for the  neighbors to discuss their thoughts with each other and two contractors that I brought to the  meeting.

Insight  It worked exactly as advertised!  The government agency that issues the permits asked how I got  everyone to work together so well.  This was the most cooperation they have ever seen.  In hindsight  Storytelling really did create a cause just like the speaker in the video said it would.  It also opened my  eyes to the benefits of Design Thinking overall.  At the beginning I felt confident that I knew the best  way to solve our big wicked problem.  Along the way I learned that collaboratively and iteratively  developing an idea provided a much better solution.  The empathy I gained for my neighbors has really  paid dividends whenever they ask me questions about the project, because I understand what is behind  the questions they are asking.

Approach  Another option I considered was to perform a small Learning Launch experiment out on the beach with  our neighbors.  With very little cost, equipment, or time we could see if one of the proposed solutions  would really work.  I could just pound some wood posts into the ground and sandwich a board between  them for the experiment.

Overall the Storytelling approach worked wonderfully, so I’m a firm believer and will use it again the  next time I encounter a “big wicked problem” that involves other customers.

