NARRATIVES BRING INNOVATION TO MARKET

YOU FAIL TO SELL; YOU WILL FAIL TO CREATE

We are talking about Narratives because leadership is the ability to influence people to do things they have no obligation to do. It's how we motivate and influence people to act.

We have a whole range of people within the ecosystem to influence. We are constantly selling to stakeholders/value chain members/supply chain members to create, communicate and deliver value to a customer. The fact is that Crafting a narrative is the best mode of influencing people.

Tell me if you’ve witnessed this one before.

You or a colleague have what is believed to be a compelling idea — a real game-changer — with the data to back it up. You stand in front of a roomful of peers and decision-makers and make an iron-clad case based on clear evidence as to why the company should move forward with your proposal.

It is your moment of triumph. The crowd’s reaction? Scattered polite applause. A handful of flat-faced nods of acknowledgment that confirm you exist and have just spoken. A poorly stifled yawn. Several next moves in Words with Friends.

What happened? How could they not see the value? The data shows it!

If you were to ask Nancy Duarte, she’d likely tell you that you were missing the story behind the data. Numbers do not persuade people (and certainly not by numbers alone), explains the author of Data Story: Explain Data and Inspire Action Through Story. They are persuaded by drama — a compelling narrative, a sympathetic hero, a mighty challenge to overcome.

If you want to win people over to your idea, you need to take your data and turn it into a story. In this week’s episode, Duarte spins us a tale that demonstrates the power of these three big points for bringing your data to life and winning people over:

1.You need to have the guts and intuition to create a point of view from your data.

2.You need to understand the three-act story structure and use it to frame how you communicate the actions you want people to take.

3.You need to understand who the humans are who are driving the numbers and communicate with them in a way that helps change the numbers in the future.

If you work for a non-profit, sports & recreation, health & wellness organization or an entrepreneur. You qualify for some free content from CINTA Learning Labs that will provide you with a description and explanation of the key components to a compelling business model narrative. Help you better conceptualize the components of your organization's business model. Give you a fresh perspective on your business value-creating activities.

THREE BIG POINTS

Every Number Tells a Story

November 12, 2019 / No matter how compelling it may seem, data alone will not win people over. You need to infuse the data with a story. In this episode, Nancy Duarte explains how to do that.

https://sloanreview.mit.edu/audio/every-number-tells-a-story/