Author: Nailia Tasseel

Great article in People Management this month, deep-diving into Colt's journey to turn the business and its fortunes around.

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to do some research for a journal article on leadership and management styles. I was supplied with a Darwin quote as a steer on the message we were trying to get across in our article; “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” My research ended up taking a bit of a tangential path as I discovered that the quote was in fact a misquote helpfully adapted over the years to better suit the needs of the management theorists who have adopted it.

The management lecturer Leon Megginson is thought to have been the first person to paraphrase Darwin’s original scientific argument on adaptability to illustrate his teachings in management lectures. Neil Matzke won a competition set by the Darwin Correspondence Project to discover the source of some of Darwin’s most famous misquotes and in documenting his findings dubbed the process of “pithification” which he believes may well be a common trend if we researched the origins of famous bogus quotes.

In describing his theory of evolution, Darwin went to great lengths to provide detailed evidence; no less than we would expect of any scientist. But over one hundred years later what Megginson took from Darwin’s work was a simple message that he could use to reinforce the importance of adaptability to change in management. Megginson chose to paraphrase Darwin’s scientific argument to make his management lectures more succinct, easier to access and full of impact. Megginson found communication with his students was more effective if he used a brief and concise version of a detailed scientific theory that applied to species, and then used relevant management examples to bring his point to life.

When I started researching the article I was going to write about how establishing a culture of storytelling allows organisations to constantly adapt to the continually changing environments in which they operate and I was going to use Darwin’s “quote” to reinforce how important this adaptive advantage is. I still believe that this principle is hugely important for managers to consider as industries are becoming increasingly globalised and technology driven and the speed of change gets ever faster. However as I became side-tracked by investigating the origins of this particular famous quote I developed a second hypothesis specifically on strategic narratives: are organisations who are able to tell their often complex and detailed strategies in the form of a clear and compelling narrative carrying out a similar process of “pithification”?

I believe they are. In the Collins English Dictionary, “pithy” is described as “terse and full of meaning or substance”. A strategic narrative enables an organisation to tersely convey great meaning and, in the same way that Megginson used management specific examples in his lectures to bring to life Darwin’s “quote” in terms relevant to his students, leaders and managers should use specific examples relevant to the audience they are talking to when sharing their strategic narrative. Neil Matzke suspects that pithy quotes have an “adaptive advantage” in their habitats of motivational seminars, books of inspirational quotes etc. I suspect that strategic narratives may have a similar “adaptive advantage” in the environment of business communications.

We all experience it. And we all do it at some point (agreed, some more than others). But listen up. It's official: complaining impairs your brain function, and listening to someone having a good old gripe is more likely to make you behave that way too.

Trevor Blake, author of 'Three Simple Steps: A Map to Success in Business and Life' explains how neuroscientists have worked out that not only does negativity infect others, but it also impedes the part of the brain that you need for problem-solving.

This isn't good news for business. The last thing business leaders need is people being negative and others following suit. This chimes loudly with us at The Storytellers. Our approach is in fact based on the same principle, but in reverse. It's true that beliefs influence behaviours, and by behaving differently (driven by our beliefs) we can actually influence others to behave differently and ultimately shift the 'social norms' (and therefore drive culture change) within organisations.  And positive stories are the currency of changing attitudes and behaviours, which is why we strive to help create storytelling cultures in organisations. These organisations are those where stories of success, linked to the strategy and vision of the organisation, are shared across the entire organisation to spread positivity, belief that new ways of thinking and working are A Good Thing for both individuals and the organisation, and to encourage others to follow suit.

Yet while positivity reigns in some areas of the organisation, there are always those who, driven by a different agenda or inability to embrace change, seek to undermine the positive efforts of others to make change happen. These are the complainers. The people who – be warned – may make you feel negative about things too and turn your brain to mush. Call them cynics, sceptics, or downright terrorists (those who are actively disruptive and unlikely to ever come round). These are the people who simply refuse to adopt new ways of working, justifying their actions through words of negativity about the state of the nation, who pull others aside 'in confidence' to infect them too with stories that counteract the positive aspects of change. This is where strong and effective leadership is so critical, and where 'change ambassadors' – the natural influencers in organisations – can really make a difference.

The reality is that people who will never change tend not to last in an organisation. And if they do, leaders must accept that change will be a very slow process. Our advice is to focus on where the positive energy is, and use that energy to influence others. It helps if you have a compelling story to tell about where you're going as a business and why, so you can rationalise your actions and decisions and use it as a reference point for stories of success.

So next time you're at the water cooler, and someone comes along to start complaining at length, remember that you're at risk of turning into one of 'them'. And remember too, that in most good stories, good overcomes evil. So resist. There's a film in here somewhere.

I can’t deny it, I may have been here at The Storytellers less than two months and should be working hard to make a good impression but, I just spent the last 50 minutes sat at my desk watching the Olympic rowing as the GB women’s pair and the GB men’s eight went for glory.

When the national anthem played as Heather Stanning and Helen Glover picked up their gold medals, the first female British rowers to ever win gold at an Olympics and the first GB gold medal of London 2012, emotion coursed through me – relief, pride and sheer elation. Perhaps it’s because I used to row and I have a teeny weeny insight into the investment, both physical and emotional, that goes into racing, and what winning feels like, but I’m pretty sure it’s not just rowers who were emotional watching that. I defy anyone to watch Helen Glover crying as the National Anthem plays and not feel something.

Those girls had a story. Glover has only been rowing for four years and as a pair they were only put together three years ago and could then have been described as the reserve crew. Since that day however, they have risen to dominance with a strong vision always in mind; winning gold at the home Olympics of London 2012. As spectators, the commentators informed us of their story, their vision was clear and their emotional investment was plain to see. By understanding their goal and witnessing their emotion we, as spectators, connected with their story and felt part of it, wanting them to succeed.

It is this strong connection to a story that we work with our clients to achieve with their employees. A clear vision and emotional investment from the leaders needs to be seen, felt and believed by the employees. If leaders show emotion when talking about their business’ story, employees will feel that their leaders are emotionally invested and are therefore more likely to become emotionally invested themselves. Emotion helps employees connect with the business story, feel a part of it and want to live it, in the same way as we as spectators felt and lived a small part of Heather Stanning and Helen Glover’s story with them. 

The challenge therefore, for me as a new Storyteller, is to find ways to convey emotion when talking to clients. If I can use personal stories in my discussions with clients I will naturally display emotion. In this way I should be able to demonstrate, not only through what I am saying but also the way I am saying it, the power of emotion in connecting people and making them feel part of a story. Then, combined with the rational argument that a clear vision provides direction, I should be more effective in helping clients to produce workforces that feel part of the journey their organisation is on and know the direction they are going. Whilst it might not be Olympic gold our clients are aiming for, if they can get their employees half as emotionally involved in their business vision as the British public are in supporting GB sportsmen and women at these home Olympic Games, then they will have a powerful supporting workforce.

I turned up to work today with dripping wet hair and smelling faintly of goose poo. Evidence I believe of how comfortable I have come to feel amongst my colleagues at The Storytellers. I should explain my morning state came courtesy of a dip in the Serpentine in Hyde Park – something I have done regularly for the past two years but it never ceases to raise eyebrows when meeting new people.

A month ago I walked into 5 Cromwell Place to take up a role as a Planning Consultant at The Storytellers. I’d just spent two and a half weeks trekking in Kyrgyzstan, periodically finding myself waist deep in snow and eating various forms of offal proudly presented as gourmet feasts by local shepherds, stories about which I shared with my friends and family back home via a blog. It seems appropriate therefore that, since I now work for a company which spends its time encouraging large organisations to tell stories, I should take this opportunity to continue my blogging, using it to document life as a new Storyteller.

My first month has gone by in a bit of a blur as I’ve been immersed in the world of corporate storytelling and its role in behavioural change. Earlier this week a group of us who are all new starters had a workshop day where we explored how we would describe in our own words what The Storytellers does and role-played interactions with clients. I quickly realised that what I thought I had clear in my head was actually quite difficult to articulate. I think this is going to be one of my big challenges; finding my own “Storytellers” voice that can clearly and concisely describe The Storytellers offering in order that clients can understand what we are about.

In a way it is a similar challenge to that which our clients face when trying to clearly convey, often complex, strategies to employees throughout their organisations. As we work with our clients to create a succinct and compelling strategic narrative, in the same way I am gradually discovering my own narrative about The Storytellers. At the moment it feels a bit like I am at the bottom of one of the mountain ranges I faced when trekking in Kyrgyzstan but like I did then I feel the best way to make progress is to prepare as best I can but then simply dig in my toes and start to climb. If I can reach a point where I feel half as comfortable with clients as I already do with my colleagues then I’ll know I’m making progress (although I think I’ll refrain from subjecting clients to my morning goose poo odour wherever possible).