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Storytelling For High Concept And High Touch
After hearing Daniel Pink speak about his new book A Whole New
Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age for
the fourth time, I finally read it cover to cover (less than a
day). I finally got what he's talking about when he says jobs
that are high touch are here to stay. That is, jobs that builds
relationships between business and client whether it's B2B or
B2C. To that end, he advocates that we incorporate more
storytelling into our relationships, that we make a point with a
story, not just facts which everyone knows they need but still
find boring. The reason is that stories are easier to remember.
He goes on to list some of our contemporary characteristics
distinguishing stories from facts:
Facts illuminate..........Stories amuse
Facts reveal..............Stories divert
Facts are for real........Stories are for cover
With the easy access to facts however, facts have become
ubiquitous, available at the speed of light because of the
internet and search engines like Google. So each fact becomes
less valuable. What becomes more valuable is the ability to
place these facts in context and deliver them with emotional
impact. Stories exist where high concept and high touch
intersect. This need is spawning the nascent movement called
organizational storytelling at World Bank, NASA, even Xerox. It
is even being used in branding advertisement on TV.
And as Mark Turner says in his book The Literary Mind, "Most of
our experience, our knowledge and our thinking are organized as
stories".
Why am I telling you? Here's Daniel Pink's answer: "Story is
having another important impact on business. Like design, it is
becoming a key way for individuals and entrepreneurs to
distinguish their goods and services in a crowded marketplace."
So I wanted to share with you a story I heard last week. I like
this story for three reasons: 1. it's a story out of Wal-Mart's
success. 2. we can each apply it as a mini-self-assessment. 3.
it's inspirational. I hope you like it too.
At Wal-Mart, in the beginning, everyone would start as a
bagger, bagging the customer's purchases. Employees were
monitored on a number of criteria. They were assessed on their
attitude toward the job, attitude toward the customers, when
they arrived for work, when the left, their enthusiasm for the
job, contribution to the company and the company mission,
etc.
Sam Walton came up with a system for ranking all baggers. You
were a 1 bagger, a 2 bagger or a 3 bagger.
The way Wal-Mart stores are designed; being a bagger is a key
entry level job. The job of a bagger is to bag purchases for
customers on two registers. A bagger is supposed to be able to
keep up with two lines. However, there are some baggers who can
only keep up with one register line, some who handle two lines
and some who can handle three or maybe more lines.
One Baggers arrive at work on time, do the job to the best of
their ability and leave on time, no matter what. They can only
handle one register line. They don't see what needs to be done
beyond their assigned tasks and don't concern themselves with
anything else.
Two Baggers are very similar. They arrive on time, leave on
time, and do the job of bagging for two register lines very
competently. While on the job, they do what needs to be done
very thoroughly. In time, they can rise into supervisory and
middle management roles.
Now Three Baggers are a whole different animal - hard to tame,
harder to contain.
Three Baggers come in early, leave late, look for extra work
that needs to be done, put the job first even at quitting time.
They make sure that all the lines have baggers and will stay
late until the replacement shows up. They pitch in, in a pinch
or a crisis, without being asked. They love their job and the
company. They are your cheerleaders, your enthusiasts. These
stars are going someplace. Don't hold them back. If you can, use
those star qualities to advance your business.
After reading those three job descriptions: are you a
One-bagger, a Two-bagger or a Three-bagger? And working for you,
do you have One-baggers, Two- baggers or Three-baggers? And who
do you want in those positions?
Now isn't it easier to remember the distinctions between these
skill sets/character sets from a story than antiquated job
descriptions? Try using stories and metaphors to make your point
this week.
About the author:
Kerri Salls, MBA runs a virtual business school to train,
consult and coach small business CEO's and entrepreneurs in 10
key strategies to make more profit in less time. Learn more at
http://www.breakthrough-business-school.com/products.html or
sign up for a free weekly newsletter at
http://www.breakthrough-business-school.com/newsletter.shtml
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