building an organizational story that inspires - 2013 retreat, day 1

Organizational Storytelling UpStart Bay Area Retreat 2013

Ralph Guggenheim

What We’ll Cover

!   More on value proposition & customer segments

!   Your one-line organization story

!   Traditional story structure

!   Lunch

!   Apply story structure to your organization’s story

!   Draft your organizational story

!   Sara Bamberger: Kevah

Why “Stories”?

!   “The (social) entrepreneur’s challenge is to effectively communicate their value proposition, not only to customers, but also to vendors, partners, investors, and their own team. Especially for technical founders, this is normally all about presenting impressive facts. But in reality facts only go so far. Stories often work better, because humans don’t always make rational decisions.”

!   -Martin Zwilling, Forbes Magazine

Value Proposition

!   1st element in communicating your organization’s story

!   Write down your value proposition

!   Not the “What” or “How”, but the “Why”

The “Why” – Simon Sinek

Value Proposition

!   1st element in communicating your organization’s story

!   Write down your value proposition

!   Not the “What” or “How”, but the “Why”

Customer Segments

!   Write down the Customer Segments related to your Value Proposition

!   All stakeholders

!   All partners

!   Pick one as your “audience” for today

The Logline

!   Can you reduce your value prop to 1-2 sentences?

The Logline

!   Can you reduce your value prop to 1-2 sentences?

Example: Hollywood screenplays

!   The Descendants - A descendant of Hawaiian royalty struggles to raise his daughters after a motorboat accident leaves their mother in a coma.

!   Midnight Cowboy – Naïve Joe Buck arrives in NY City to make his fortune as a hustler, but soon strikes up an unlikely friendship with the first scoundrel he falls prey to.

The Logline: Structure

!   The logline is specific in time, place, needs and emotions

!   Logline MadLibs! [protagonist]…[verb]…[antagonist]…[goal]…[stakes]

The Logline: Structure

!   The logline is specific in time, place, needs and emotions

!   Logline structure: [protagonist]…[verb]…[antagonist]…[goal]…[stakes]

!   Gravity – Two astronauts struggle to survive in outer space when their ship is destroyed and shipmates killed.

!   Captain Phillips – A cargo ship captain must protect the lives of his crew and himself when his ship is captured by Somali pirates.

Loglines for Organizations

!   The logline can overstate the “how” and “what” because it’s a pitch piece.

!   Logline structure: [protagonist]…[verb]…[antagonist]…[goal]…[stakes]

!   For organizations, we need to emphasize the “Why”

!   The “Why” is in the goals and stakes of the logline

Loglines for Organizations - 2

Example: The Union of Concerned Scientists

!   What they say: “The Union of Concerned Scientists puts rigorous, independent science to work to solve our planet's most pressing problems.”


Example: The Red Cross

!   What they say: “The American Red Cross exists to provide compassionate care to those in need.”




Example: The Red Cross

!   What they say: “The American Red Cross exists to provide compassionate care to those in need.”

What’s the difference?




!   What they “bury”: “Our decades of achievements show that thoughtful action based on the best available science can help safeguard our future and the future of our planet.”


Exercise: Develop a logline for your organization.

Hints: Keep in mind- !   Value Proposition

!   Stakeholder/Customer Segments

!   Empathy

The Elements of Story Structure

!   Loglines only go so far. We still need to tell our story.

!   Stories generally need a: !   Beginning

!   Middle

!   End

!   In traditional storytelling we have a name for these.

Classic Story Structure

Three Acts:

!   Act I: the hero confronts a Problem that initiates a mission or journey

!   Act II: the hero overcomes Obstacles along the way

!   Act III: the hero devises a Strategy, executes it and succeeds (or fails)


In brief:

“Introduce the hero, get him up a tree, throw rocks at him, then get him out of the tree.”

- Robert McKee, Screenwriting Guru

An Example

“JAWS” (1975)

Act I – the Problem

Act II – the Obstacle

Act III – the Strategy


Three Acts:

!   Act I: the hero confronts a Problem that initiates a mission or journey

!   Act II: the hero overcomes Obstacles along the way

!   Act III: the hero devises a Strategy, executes it and succeeds (or fails)

Organizational Story Structure

Exercise:

!   Take a familiar story and break it down into a three-act sequence.


Three Parts:

!   Part I: the Organization confronts a Problem that initiates a search to define a business/service model

!   Part II: the Organization iterates to resolve Obstacles that confront the model

!   Part III: the Organization evolves a Strategy, executes it and succeeds (or fails)

- Lunch -


Three Parts:

!   Part I: the Organization confronts a Problem that initiates a search to define a business/service model

!   Part II: the Organization iterates to resolve Obstacles that confront the model

!   Part III: the Organization evolves a Strategy, executes it and succeeds (or fails)

A Framework for Our Stories

- DavidHutchens.com

Organizational Story

What Purpose Does It Serve?

!   What is it?

!   What’s so special about the story?

!   What venues can be used to transmit it?

!   What are some common types of stories?

Organizational Story - Definition

!   A means of capturing the essence of the organization’s experience and sharing it in a dramatic, narrative fashion.

What’s So Special About Them? !   Truthiness: Organizational stories are largely true. When

something is true, it has greater power as a teaching story.

!   Familiarity: The context of stories told in organizations is generally well-known, making them easy to understand. And familiarity leads to an assumption of truth.

!   Familiarity begets exclusivity: The listener feels special because they believe they understand the story while others may not.

!   Personal: Stories in organizations are often quite personal, either being a direct experience of the storyteller or naming specific people.

- ChangingMinds.org

Storytelling Venues !   Internal Publications

!   Speeches andPresentations

!   Meetings

!   Face-to-face and Phone Calls

!   Email and Chat

!   Blogs, Online Forums, Social Media

- ChangingMinds.org

Types of Stories - Film

Film Genres:

!   Western

!   Horror

!   Drama

!   Romantic Comedy

!   Dramedy

!   Thriller, etc.

Types of Stories - Organizations Founding Stories: !   Genesis Stories !   Founder Myths

Role Model Stories: !   Leadership Stories !   Heroic Stories

Predictive Stories: !   Visionary Stories

!   Stories of Hope !   Stories of Transformation -ChangingMinds.org

Founding Stories

Organizational Genres:

!   Genesis Stories

!   Founder Myths

“Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard started HP with little strong intent other than wanting to invent useful things and enjoy work.”

“Dell started with student Michael Dell making and selling computers from his college dorm room.”

-ChangingMinds.org

Role Model Stories !   Leadership Stories

!   Heroic Stories

These tell how the organization, confronted with a problem and chaos, found a leader who takes charge and creates organization and restores order.

These are teaching tales that show praiseworthy behavior.

-ChangingMinds.org

Predictive Stories !   Visionary Stories: describe a desirable future that

inspires and motivates people to work towards that future.

!   Stories of Hope: They speak of the the hope for rescue from dire straits, of someone who will save the people and save the organization from the mess in which it finds itself now.

!   Stories of Transformation: Tell about how individuals, groups and entire organizations create deep and fundamental change, transforming from one state to another.

-ChangingMinds.org

Example: G-dcast

Example: Wilderness Torah

Other Organizations

My Experience:

!   Pixar – The Quest

!   Walt Disney Corp. - The Brand

!   Apple Computer / Steve Jobs – Evolution & Re-Birth

!   Electronic Arts – The Publisher

Organizational stories evolve as the organization grows and changes.

The Essential Questions

!   Who is the audience (i.e. customer/stakeholders)?

!   What are they interested in?

!   What type of story best explains my organization?

!   How can I best communicate it to them?

Drafting Your Story

!   Think about: !   Value Proposition

!   Customer Segment (i.e. audience)

!   Problem, Obstacle, Strategy

!   Genre(s)

!   Create a “Beat Outline” (25 min.) !   Talking Points

!   Storyboard

!   Diagram

Final Thoughts & Suggestions

!   Get out of your head and into your audience’s

!   Engage with your audience – body language, humor, enthusiasm

!   Find a way to move your audience emotionally

!   Demonstrate vulnerability and perseverance

!   Listen actively - this is an interactive experience

!   Edit, Edit, Edit!!

!   Practice, Practice, Practice!

building an organizational story that inspires - 2013 retreat, day 1

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