9/20/2018 Storytelling for Strategists: Communicating the Strategic Plan - Strategy Leadership Council

Strategy Leadership Council

Storytelling for Strategists: Communicating the

Strategic Plan
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By Steve Shapiro

POSTED ON 10 SEPTEMBER 2018

Storytelling is about survival.

That’s because it helps us process the world around us. At least according to author Jonathan Gottschall. In his
book, The Storytelling Animal, he argues that humans evolved to tell stories to help our species thrive. “It allows us
to experience our lives as coherent, orderly, and meaningful. It is what makes life more than a blooming, buzzing
confusion,” Gottschall writes.

Just as humans have employed narratives to make sense of our world, corporations can use it to help employees
make sense of the strategic plan – what may seem to them as “blooming, buzzing confusion.”

Strategic plans are complex by nature, but if you want to effectively communicate your strategy to the workforce,
put it in a narrative to demystify the meaning. To do that, follow the steps below.

1. Connect Your Strategy to Individual Goals and Actions

Before you start building a story, figure out how to connect strategic initiatives to employee actions. Start by
evaluating the big-picture elements of your strategy and then work your way down to how they relate to staff
behavior. To help with that task, answer these questions. They should help you identify the most employee-
relevant information you should include in the narrative.

Market Context (macro trends, market risks, customer trends)

■ Q1: What do you think are the most surprising trends affecting the future of the company?

■ Q2: What is the most important trend or factor that influences the company as a whole?

■ Q3: What is the biggest growth opportunity for the company in the current scenario?

Organizational Purpose/Goals (company goals, targets, purpose statement)

■ Q1: How have the market changes affected what our stakeholders expect from us?

■ Q2: How can we deliver value to stakeholders in the current environment?

■ Q3: How can we differentiate ourselves from the competition?

Business Strategy (key strategic priorities, underlying assumptions)

■ Q1: What are the key assumptions of the business strategy? Is there any data that supports it?
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■ Q3: How different does this feel from what the company has done before?

Strategy-Aligned Employee Behaviors (values, key behaviors (e.g., attend trainings, workflow changes)

■ Q1: What aspects of the strategy are most important for the employee? Why?

■ Q2: What can employees do that will help the business achieve the strategy?

■ Q3: Which employee behaviors are effective and/or ineffective in driving strategy?

2. Build Your Story Using Metaphors and Temporal Diagrams

With this information in hand, you can start crafting your story. And when you do, it’s better to use either
metaphors or temporal diagrams. That’s according to a study published in the International Journal of Business
Communication. These visualizations improved employee retention of, attention to, and agreement with the plan
over traditional bulleted lists.

While you can use all sorts of metaphors to describe your strategy, you should choose one that matches the story
you want to tell. Is your strategy about adaptation, transformation, or an aggressive push into new territory? Use
the associated metaphor below.

Take the Renault-Nissan strategic partnership as an example. First formed in 1999, the French and Japanese
automobile makers recognized that they were coming from very different cultures and did not want one to take
over the other. The companies first thought about using “marriage” as a metaphor, but realized that this wasn’t
right. Not only did marriage carry different contexts in each culture, but seemed inappropriate when talking about
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both cultures, but did not suggest that one was dominant over the other, or that national identities had to be
compromised.

Temporal diagrams can also give employees a better sense of the company’s direction. The template below shows
a clearly defined beginning and end and shows the paths to get there.

3. Communicate Your Story: Case Study with Rolls-Royce

When you are ready to tell your strategy story, make sure it draws out the implications for the individual. Consider
how Rolls-Royce used “corporate storyboards” to engage the employees most critical for strategy execution. In
smaller groups, strategists walked employees through the plan and discussed relevant aspects with each group.

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9/20/2018 Storytelling for Strategists: Communicating the Strategic Plan - Strategy Leadership Council

Additional Resources:

■ Strategic Plan Template Library

■ Ignition Guide to Communicating Strategy

Please email Steve with your comments or questions.

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