Tool: Storytelling at a company workshop about transformation

Challenge: Describe your challenge, including all relevant information.

I joined a new company, a traditional almost 100-year-old distributor as person in charge for Digital  Transformation. One of my main assignments was to convince the organization of the importance of  eCommerce for the future as a distributor. eCommerce was something they weren’t familiar with  and so it as something impacting retail but not the B2B distribution space which was the area they  where working in.

Selection: In your own words, briefly describe the tool you selected

Storytelling is not the only tool I applied in my case, but I chose it for this assignment as it is a great  tool to engage with a diverse audience during the brainstorming (what if?) phase. Stories are sticky  and tangible. People can relate to them much better than abstract models, theories and economical  concepts. Most of all a story can generate questions and questions expand the depth and breath of a  story, that ultimately lead to lots of innovative thoughts and ideas.

Application: Describe how you applied the tool you selected to your challenge

I applied the storytelling tool in several ways in my challenge. During a workshop with several work  colleagues I asked them to each share a story or experience they made with eCommerce and  shopping online. This was an ideal ice breaker and got everyone thinking. I then shared a bit of  background on the current status of eCommerce in our industry in different parts of the world and  to create a “burning platform” situation told a story about a company in a more developed market  that failed to transform and adopt to eCommerce and consecutively lost customers, relevance and  within a couple of years had to file for bankruptcy. After we discussed this case in various break  groups we focused on brainstorming what eCommerce could mean for us a company. We asked  ourselves what we change and impact we could have if we started to develop eCommerce  capabilities within our company. We again broke out in different groups with the task to come up  with different stories of what our company could look like in 3 years if we invested and adopted in  this new channel of business

Insight: Describe the insight you gained from applying the tool you selected to your challenge

I’ve gained several insights form applying the story telling tool multiple times during my workshop. It  served as a great ice breaker, got people to relax and share something personal. This lowered the  barrier for people to openly collaborate and brainstorm together later. Which is sometimes tricky  especially when people come from different departments and aren’t used to work together. The  second time I used story telling was with the intention of creating awareness among the workshop  attendees that we need to act now as company. My main insight here was that stories can create a  sense of urgency that dry numbers, charts and growth rates alone can’t achieve as people can’t  relate to it as well. Therefore, I believe stories telling is ideal to create so called “burning platforms”.  The third insight I got was that if you assign people to work together and come up with a story that  captures a scenario of the future it gets people way more engaged than if they just have to come up  with a simple bullet point list of what they want to do or where they want to be in 3 years. Forcing  them to package it in a consistent story that resonated helped them to narrow down to some very  focused suggestions for innovation and transformation.

Approach: Describe what you might do differently next time -- applying the same tool you selected  or a different one -- and the reason(s) why.

I would apply the tool again in a similar situation along with other tools that I didn’t mention here. I  would probably have the workshop participants prepare parts of their story in advance in order to  get the thought process starting a bit earlier. Also I’m thinking about using small give aways and  having the teams vote for the story presented. Another tool that I would like to apply is the journey  mapping to illustrate how our customers’ as well as our internal journeys / processes and operations  could change through new innovations and technology


Tool : Storytelling at a company workshop about transformation Challenge : Describe your challenge , including all relevant information . I joined a new company , a traditional almost 100 - year - old distributor as person in charge for Digital Transformation . One of my main assignments was to convince the organization of the importance of eCommerce for the future as a distributor . eCommerce was something they were n’t familiar with and so it as something impacting retail but not the B2B distribution space which was the area they where working in . Selection : In your own words , briefly describe the tool you selected Storytelling is not the only tool I applied in my case , but I chose it for this assignment as it is a great tool to engage with a diverse audience during the brainstorming ( what if ? ) phase . Stories are sticky and tangible . People can relate to them much better than abstract models , theories and economical concepts . Most of all a story can generate questions and questions expand the depth and breath of a story , that ultimately lead to lots of innovative thoughts and ideas . Application : Describe how you applied the tool you selected to your challenge I applied the storytelling tool in several ways in my challenge . During a workshop with several work colleagues I asked them to each share a story or experience they made with eCommerce and shopping online . This was an ideal ice breaker and got everyone thinking . I then shared a bit of background on the current status of eCommerce in our industry in different parts of the world and to create a “ burning platform ” situation told a story about a company in a more developed market that failed to transform and adopt to eCommerce and consecutively lost customers , relevance and within a couple of years had to file for bankruptcy . After we discussed this case in various break groups we focused on brainstorming what eCommerce could mean for us a company . We asked ourselves what we change and impact we could have if we started to develop eCommerce capabilities within our company . We again broke out in different groups with the task to come up with different stories of what our company could look like in 3 years if we invested and adopted in this new channel of business Insight : Describe the insight you gained from applying the tool you selected to your challenge I ’ve gained several insights form applying the story telling tool multiple times during my workshop . It served as a great ice breaker , got people to relax and share something personal . This lowered the barrier for people to openly collaborate and brainstorm together later . Which is sometimes tricky especially when people come from different departments and are n’t used to work together . The second time I used story telling was with the intention of creating awareness among the workshop attendees that we need to act now as company . My main insight here was that stories can create a sense of urgency that dry numbers , charts and growth rates alone ca n’t achieve as people ca n’t relate to it as well . Therefore , I believe stories telling is ideal to create so called “ burning platforms ” . The third insight I got was that if you assign people to work together and come up with a story that captures a scenario of the future it gets people way more engaged than if they just have to come up with a simple bullet point list of what they want to do or where they want to be in 3 years . Forcing them to package it in a consistent story that resonated helped them to narrow down to some very focused suggestions for innovation and transformation . Approach : Describe what you might do differently next time -- applying the same tool you selected or a different one -- and the reason(s ) why . I would apply the tool again in a similar situation along with other tools that I did n’t mention here . I would probably have the workshop participants prepare parts of their story in advance in order to get the thought process starting a bit earlier . Also I ’m thinking about using small give aways and having the teams vote for the story presented . Another tool that I would like to apply is the journey mapping to illustrate how our customers ’ as well as our internal journeys / processes and operations could change through new innovations and technology