Are you harvesting the stories in your company?

Who doesn’t love a good story? Told well it will make us see pictures in our heads (mine and yours might differ a bit) and play on our emotions. Before the written word stories were used to remind new generations about our history. As children we learnt right from wrong by listening to stories. And even though there is a universal truth that as adults we should not care about stories millions of adults have bought the Harry Potter books – but perhaps with the more grownup cover (I have the children’s version).

We still love a good story and more and more companies understand this and are using the art of storytelling to strengthen their brand.

In the abundance of choice we as consumers have today, price is not what makes us buy a product in many cases. Why do you choose Coca Cola over Pepsi, Nike shoes over Reebok?

On Tuesday I was introduced to the art of storytelling by Emma Dennisdotter from Nordic Business Institute at a training session arranged by the Swedish Public Relations Association.

Emma pointed out that we remember 3 times as much if we are given the facts in a story rather than just served the facts. This is because a good story makes us visualize it and images are then stored in another part of our brain to facts. Good stories also speak to our emotions.

To be successful at storytelling you need to make sure that your story has a very clear message so that when retold the moral of it is not lost. Because the storyteller owns the story.

Emma brought up some interesting case stories:

• IKEA show recording of employees to new employees as a way of transferring knowledge. But what I found most interesting is that when IKEA puts together their catalogue everyone working with a spread (where the products are shown in an environment) reads a story about the people living in that room. Based on that the products are placed in a certain way and that attention to detail is why many of us read the IKEA catalogue as a book.
• When Stora Hotellet in Fjällbacka (http://www.storahotellet-fjallbacka.se) ( a small town north of Gothenburg) went through a full renovation they realized that as a small hotel they were never going to receive large enough discounts if they bought the same interior to every room. So they made every room unique using the story of Captain Charles Klassen who sailed the seven seas and when returning home a wealthy man builds a hotel and gives each room the name of a favorite girl, harbor or explorer.
• Every morning Ritz Carlton sends out a story to all its hotels that the manager shares with all employees. A story from one of its hotels that passes on the company values better than any listed policies such as ‘always smile’, ‘think outside the box’ etc. One example that has leaked: A family with a child who was gluten intolerant checked in to a Ritz Carlton. The staff was a bit worried because they did not have any gluten free bread to serve the child for breakfast the following day. One employee had a relative that was going to come visit him a few days later and the employee new that where the relative lived there was a bread shop that sold gluten free bread. So he called her up and wondered if she could arrive the same day instead and bring some gluten free bread with her. Sure thing.

There are 3 keys to storytelling. One – the story itself that is told by someone and listened to by someone. Two – the audience needs to learn something from the story that they did not know beforehand. Three – the audience needs to understand and accept the moral of the story, otherwise they won’t pass it on.

If you encourage the people around you told tell their stories I am sure you will find many great examples of how your company core values are expressed. Share those stories and see what happens.

Good stories touch your imagination. Great stories steal your soul.

It would be great if you would share good corporate stories you have encountered. Add a comment below please.