Selection and Challenge: (Storytelling)  Storytelling isn’t just about stating the facts and the findings to people. It is about taking people on a  compelling journey with the goal of turning them into highly invested individuals. Storytelling immerses  these individuals in the environment you have created using the various facts, findings, characters, and  elements you have researched and gathered, and pushes their imagination to enhance rational thought.  It is through this immersion that innovative perspectives begin to awaken.    I’ve been a business and management consultant for 5 years and one of the ever-present challenges  that I always seem to encounter is how to get highly technical, highly analytical individuals to effectively  pitch their product/solutions/projects, and not let it devolve into an enumeration of cold statistics,  tables and diagrams that do not translate the benefit of their intended innovation well. This is evident  with my past experience as a consultant and business pitch trainer for my country’s Department of  Science and Technology. Coaching these highly competent scientists to pitch their business ideas to  potential investors, donors, and partners often gets tedious because they lose the interest of their  audience by drowning them in cold data, statistics and diagrams, and minutes of jargon. I’ve seen many  of them step out of those pitching rooms frustrated to not receive the grants they need to further  explore their innovative possibilities, wondering why these “people with power and money” can’t see  the potential benefits that their solutions have to offer.    Storytelling was my choice because I believe that it is deeply entrenched in all the aspects of the Design  Thinking process. For a Design Thinking session to work effectively from start to finish, one must have  the mindset of a storyteller, and must also develop along the way the necessary skills to be a good one.  Storytellers may operate with some structure. But those structures are not too rigid that it prevents  room for the uncertain, the unpredictable.     Application:  One particular session with a scientist stood out for me. After a failed pitch, one scientist whose solution  focused on an innovative technology to autism care for children could not understand how the pool of  investors for that day did not see the benefits she was explaining. I spent a couple of minutes with her  outside as we were both smoking, listening to her talk about improved biometrics numbers and results  on patients, how certain functions would help both parents and doctors take better care of the kids  compared to existing solutions in the market, and that it would come out much more affordable to all  concerned. After I had allowed her to let the emotions out, I asked her, “What is it that you really want  to say to these guys about your technology? Give to me in one sentence. Don’t tell me facts and  functions. Tell me something real. Tell” She thought about it for a few minutes, and finally told me,  partly joking, “This technology stands in between your kids and the fate of being lost in autism hell.” We  both laughed a bit. Then I told her that the reason no one could get on board her pitch was because she  didn’t take them down a journey where they could truly appreciate all the benefits she was saying. “You  just bored them with facts, and technical mumbo-jumbo that probably flew over their heads. You may  think that it is just about a well-structured idea with the appropriate amount of evidence. You gave them  that, and it failed. It failed because they didn’t connect the concept to a human experience. They didn’t  ‘feel’ you. Take them down an imaginative experience where they can really feel the emotions  surrounding all the benefits you’re talking about.”    Insights and Approach  For someone who espouses mastery of storytelling and has helped certain people get better at it, my life  as a consultant is also prone to the pitfalls of fixating on the analytical paradigm, just as much as the  scientists and technical professionals I’ve dealt with. With all the frameworks and structured tools put

out by other experts to use and prescribe to our clients, we too end up tripping over our own legs when  we take an unknown path along with some of our stakeholders. We lose ourselves in the data and the  method and forget to move back to the growth mindset essential for innovative thinking.    An effective consultant is an effective storyteller bridging the perspectives and ideas of many groups  with varied experiences. All of them fraught with emotions that we all too often disregard in the  analyses. Effective stories require the combined magic of both logical thought and emotional color in  order to inspire people’s involvement with how the journey goes. I came to realize that this was the key  item I had not properly inculcated to my mentees (and was also personally forgetting when I’d lose  myself in the data and diagrams), and that was why they were stumbling to connect. The story told  would be the glue holding all the stakeholders together, and the bridge allowing them to cross each  other’s worlds and effectively comprehend the message.


Selection and Challenge : ( Storytelling ) Storytelling is n’t just about stating the facts and the findings to people . It is about taking people on a compelling journey with the goal of turning them into highly invested individuals . Storytelling immerses these individuals in the environment you have created using the various facts , findings , characters , and elements you have researched and gathered , and pushes their imagination to enhance rational thought . It is through this immersion that innovative perspectives begin to awaken . I ’ve been a business and management consultant for 5 years and one of the ever - present challenges that I always seem to encounter is how to get highly technical , highly analytical individuals to effectively pitch their product / solutions / projects , and not let it devolve into an enumeration of cold statistics , tables and diagrams that do not translate the benefit of their intended innovation well . This is evident with my past experience as a consultant and business pitch trainer for my country ’s Department of Science and Technology . Coaching these highly competent scientists to pitch their business ideas to potential investors , donors , and partners often gets tedious because they lose the interest of their audience by drowning them in cold data , statistics and diagrams , and minutes of jargon . I ’ve seen many of them step out of those pitching rooms frustrated to not receive the grants they need to further explore their innovative possibilities , wondering why these “ people with power and money ” ca n’t see the potential benefits that their solutions have to offer . Storytelling was my choice because I believe that it is deeply entrenched in all the aspects of the Design Thinking process . For a Design Thinking session to work effectively from start to finish , one must have the mindset of a storyteller , and must also develop along the way the necessary skills to be a good one . Storytellers may operate with some structure . But those structures are not too rigid that it prevents room for the uncertain , the unpredictable . Application : One particular session with a scientist stood out for me . After a failed pitch , one scientist whose solution focused on an innovative technology to autism care for children could not understand how the pool of investors for that day did not see the benefits she was explaining . I spent a couple of minutes with her outside as we were both smoking , listening to her talk about improved biometrics numbers and results on patients , how certain functions would help both parents and doctors take better care of the kids compared to existing solutions in the market , and that it would come out much more affordable to all concerned . After I had allowed her to let the emotions out , I asked her , “ What is it that you really want to say to these guys about your technology ? Give to me in one sentence . Do n’t tell me facts and functions . Tell me something real . Tell ” She thought about it for a few minutes , and finally told me , partly joking , “ This technology stands in between your kids and the fate of being lost in autism hell . ” We both laughed a bit . Then I told her that the reason no one could get on board her pitch was because she did n’t take them down a journey where they could truly appreciate all the benefits she was saying . “ You just bored them with facts , and technical mumbo - jumbo that probably flew over their heads . You may think that it is just about a well - structured idea with the appropriate amount of evidence . You gave them that , and it failed . It failed because they did n’t connect the concept to a human experience . They did n’t ‘ feel ’ you . Take them down an imaginative experience where they can really feel the emotions surrounding all the benefits you ’re talking about . ” Insights and Approach For someone who espouses mastery of storytelling and has helped certain people get better at it , my life as a consultant is also prone to the pitfalls of fixating on the analytical paradigm , just as much as the scientists and technical professionals I ’ve dealt with . With all the frameworks and structured tools put out by other experts to use and prescribe to our clients , we too end up tripping over our own legs when we take an unknown path along with some of our stakeholders . We lose ourselves in the data and the method and forget to move back to the growth mindset essential for innovative thinking . An effective consultant is an effective storyteller bridging the perspectives and ideas of many groups with varied experiences . All of them fraught with emotions that we all too often disregard in the analyses . Effective stories require the combined magic of both logical thought and emotional color in order to inspire people ’s involvement with how the journey goes . I came to realize that this was the key item I had not properly inculcated to my mentees ( and was also personally forgetting when I ’d lose myself in the data and diagrams ) , and that was why they were stumbling to connect . The story told would be the glue holding all the stakeholders together , and the bridge allowing them to cross each other ’s worlds and effectively comprehend the message .