Most stories are essentially the same.

They follow a similar pattern that makes it easier for us to relate to them.

A main character has a destiny, a happily ever after they must get to. In getting to that happily ever after, they make plans that often go awry and lead them into adventure and occasional setbacks.

They meet all sorts of interesting characters along the way, some who even join them for the rest of the journey. FInally, the main character arrives at the story’s end. Not exactly in the happily ever after they’d hoped for, but having learned and grown along the way and in a much better place than they were at the start of the story.

Doesn’t that sound a lot like how your last strategic program or major initiative turned out? Does it not describe the constant daily adventures and setbacks of trying to achieve your organization’s mission and goals?

For a writer, a story is a constant work-in-progress. As a leader, your organization and its strategic initiatives are continual works-in-progress. There are any number of decisions that can be made for any number of reasons, each of which will lead to a different branch in your strategic story and a different variation of the story’s ending.

How do you make these decisions quickly and in a way that shows the ever-evolving narrative of your strategy, but still leads to a satisfying (if not expected) ending?

Why Story Makes Sense for communicating Strategy

Unlike traditional communication, story-based communication lends itself to communicating strategy. Traditional communication tends to center more on the sender of the message and what they want to communicate. There is little to no room for interpretation.

This makes it more suitable for directives and instructions.

Storytelling is more audience-centered. It focuses on what the receiver will get out of the story and allows the receiver to participate in interpreting the story’s meaning to them.

As strategy is constantly evolving, there is a need for a communication style or approach that is similarly evolutionary. Like a story, a strategy is meant to inspire those who receive it to own it for themselves, to participate in bringing the strategy to life.

Terrence Gargiulo, former Chief Storyteller at Accenture, highlights the differences between traditional and story-based communication. His findings are illustrated in the following table.

Ways to Bring A Story-Based Approach to Communicating Your Strategy Internally

• Share behind-the-scenes of strategic planning sessions

• Create low- or no-text visualizations of strategy / key initiatives

• Publish strategy updates & team stories on internal social platforms

• Invite strategy feedback / comments

• Hold town halls to share stories / questions about strategy & strategic initiatives

• Encourage team storytelling rituals on strategic initiatives