The evolution of a business with an untested concept is complex. It is difficult for constituents to digest information in a way that keeps people aligned to the vision and motivated to plow through the challenges. In the face of a lot of work, competition and the promise to deliver something “new” to the market, it is essential to keep everyone aligned to the end game.
“In many cases, telling a story can produce more effective results than explaining the issue.”
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There are many ways you can communicate about an issue. You can explain every detail. You can create documentation. You can send long e-mails. Unfortunately, in the midst of the chaos of an entrepreneurial venture, it’s hard to imagine how you and your team to digest this information. Instead of explaining the details, telling a story can “cut through” the clutter of the day to day and create “aha” moments. In many cases, telling a story can produce more effective results than explaining the issue. Here is a story that will show how you can use them to drive people forward in the face of the normal challenges of the entrepreneurial venture:
- Sticking to a Bold Vision. At IncentOne, we were creating an entirely new market in the early 2000—rewarding people for healthy behavior. We had to help our employees understand that building a new market is hard, and requires overcoming many obstacles—big and small. We could have said it this way: “To innovate and create a new concept, it takes a lot of time, effort and capital.” Instead we told a story:
- The Amazon Story, Most of the time, we just referred to Amazon. Amazon told the world that no one would ever buy a book in a bookstore. The world scoffed at them. Did they think that Barnes & Noble and Borders and JB Dalton and every local library and bookstore would disappear? They told Wall Street that they would lose billions to ensure that exact scenario. Amazon was founded in 1995. By the end of 2001, they had cumulative annual losses of $2.85 billion since going public in 1997, and after operating as a public company had made a profit in only one quarter ($5.1 million in 2001).
Using the Amazon story helped us plow through the many challenges we faced before we turned rewards for healthy behavior into a standard industry solution. With all the clutter, it is challenging to deliver messages to the organization that stick. The process of telling and retelling stories will plant seeds, create memorable themes and reinforce important messages for your company culture and your business.
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