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Storytelling for High Concept and High Touch

Guest post by: Kerri Salls

Article Overview: After hearing Daniel Pink speak about his 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 was talking about when he said jobs that are high touch are here to stay. That is, jobs that build relationships between business and client whether it's B2B or B2C.

Storytelling for High Concept and High Touch

After hearing Daniel Pink speak about his 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 was talking about when he said jobs that are high touch are here to stay. That is, jobs that build 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.

Related Articles
  How to avoid the 7 deadly sins of business storytelling
  The Art of Storytelling
  Visual Storytelling: An Instant Checklist
  How Your Story and the Stories Your Clients Tell Will Help Your Business
  Best Storytelling Tips for Marketing Presentations

Article Tags: stories, storytelling, Three Bagger



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