Example Reflection – Storytelling

Challenge & Selection

My job revolves around transformation and change management in my organization. The key  challenge I face is to convince people mostly senior leaders on why we need to change and to trigger  the state of urgency in order to create awareness and desire to change – mindset is a key roadblock.  Based on numerous personal experiences I discovered that creating the awareness and desire to  change requires a lot of empathy, connecting to emotions and values of the stakeholders involved.  Once you have the mindset great transformations just happens and are sustainable.

I hence use the storytelling tool to win my audience and stakeholders. I think storytelling really helps  when you need to connect to your stakeholders, creating a cause and helps in sharing the piece of  information better. The tool has been greatly useful in creating the sense of urgency for the change  that is needed in the organization, getting better buy in, commitment and sponsorship. Therefore,  deliver successful and sustainable results.

Application

I follow a short checklist to create a compelling story for my audience from a change management  perspective

a. Know my audience: What is the biggest hairy problem in front of them? How can the change

move the needle? What do they value? What are they emotional about?

b. Articulate the cause that connects to the problems of the audience   c. Use a small cross functional virtual team of experts to create a compelling story  d. Create an issue/ hypothesis tree which is mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive   e. Collect data / hard facts wherever possible to prove / disprove the hypothesis  f. Use assumptions (validated by subject matter experts) wherever data is not available   g. Summarize situation and complication: This is extremely important to create the sense of

urgency. Based on hard facts, hypothesis, experiments, analysis and assumptions we need to  create the situation/ state of urgency we are in. This helps to attract the audience to the  cause.

h. Storyboarding: Combined with stakeholder interests and data at hand, this helps to create

the intrigue and detail which the audience would like to see. Helps to get their attention and  commitment

i.  Resolution, Next steps and discussion: Suggestion of next steps, resolution and discussion to  draw people to the cause. Most of this includes how can we create the awareness, desire,  knowledge and ability to solve the problem.

In all these steps above it is most important to ask the “So What?” keeping the stakeholder in mind

Insight and Approach

I have discovered from my various interactions with senior that they look forward to interesting  discussions, want to get involved, be part of a cause and inspire the organization. The storytelling  tool exactly helps to create this passion and excitement around the table. It helps them to connect to  the 80% of the people that they do not have control of. Create the ripple and hence sustainable  change.

In my current role, I think I would use storytelling as a tool to connect people to a cause rather than a  problem. A cause helps to motivate people, create a movement, drive sustainable change, build  closely bound / effective teams and move the organization towards one vision.

