Once Upon A Time...What Storytelling Can Do For Your Business

Once Upon A Time…

While sitting in Starbucks sipping on my non-fat pumpkin spice latte with a shot of cinnamon and extra whipped cream, I happened to notice a brochure about the history of coffee. The title sounded intriguing enough—and I had some time to kill—so I decided to treat myself to a quick history lesson. When I finished reading, I gained more than dates and facts. To my surprise, I actually felt a deeper appreciation for Starbucks and my wonderfully prepared pumpkin spice latte. I was not only enjoying a caffeine hike, but I was also participating in centuries of coffee history! Wow! (Ok, I must confess, the extreme excitement wore off in a couple of minutes, but my greater appreciation for Starbucks stuck with me). So, why would Starbucks spend all that time, energy, and marketing dollars to bring the story of coffee beans to me, the consumer?

The Main Storyline…

I think Starbucks—and many other companies for that matter—are on to something. That is, the crafting of powerful stories to sell a product or service. The Information Age has done us well. It gave us computers, loads of data, the internet, iPods, LED flat screen TVs, and a wealth of other stuff. Yet the Information Age also gave us something else: information overload. I do not have to go into detail describing this affliction, for most everyone has felt it at some point in his or her life. But just to remind you, it is that writhing pain that develops after an attempt to cram more data into one’s brain than the gray matter can handle. Certainly no light issue, information overload is considered an actual disorder, coined by Alvin Toffler in his 1970 book Future Shock. 

Though it seems obvious that the last thing people want is more information, that is exactly what most companies continue to give consumers. The financial sector, in particular, is guilty of this crime. Financial professionals feed statistics, numbers, graphs, and pie charts to people like no other industry. Unfortunately, this practice only adds to the overload that consumers already feel. Have you ever had a client look at you with glazed over eyes? Case in point. 

Simply put, consumers are no longer enticed with more information, and business persons must come up with a new strategy as a result. This is not to say that information is bad. It is, however, not enough.

The Plot Thickens…

So how does this all relate to you? Regardless of your industry, product, or service, the key point is that your sales conversation should take the form of a story, rather than a fact sheet. Recent Cheerios® cereal commercials feature a grandfather and his granddaughter. Though the core message is that Cheerios® has heart-healthy benefits, General Mills smartly expresses this message through the story of a long-lasting relationship between grandparent and grandchild.

And They Lived Happily Ever After…

• Dive into this topic further by picking up a book. I personally recommend A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink. This easy, but enlightening read gives you simple suggestions for connecting with an information overloaded society.   
• Become aware of the great stories around you. Pay careful attention to your favorite movie, a persuasive advertisement, or a phone conversation. Ask yourself: what were the storylines? What made them good/bad? What principles of storytelling can I extract?
• Take a cue from the Grimm brothers, but don’t take it too far. We want our stories to be captivating, but also truthful. Leave the witch’s brew and bean stalks for the fairy tales.

Think big. Plan well. Tell incredible stories.

Why We Do Our Best Thinking In The Shower

In a previous blog post (March 12, 2010), I busted the Big, Bad Productivity Myth that menial or most hated tasks should be tackled at the beginning of the day. The truth: it is far better to to take on the most profitable tasks first, and leave the "must do" tasks until the end of the day, when you are already drained.

A reader asked for the research and theoretical concept behind this myth-busting. If you are also interested in the research, or you just want to know why we do our best thinking in the shower (I promise, the two tie in together), then read on!

Each person has finite ergs of conative energy, and though all striving activities drain that energy, activities which go against our natural instincts drain our energy faster and produce less results. So, it makes sense to put our limited energy into those things that align with our strengths and achieve results. Similarly, it makes sense to put little to no striving energy into those tasks that require us to go against our grain but, instead, convert those activities into mindless habits. Think, for example, of how many times you've come up with fantastic ideas in the shower. It was most likely because you've performed the task of showering so many times that it has become a mindless habit. Since you put no striving energy into the activity, your mind and instincts are free to wonder. But, what if I told you to reverse your showering routine? How would that alter the experience? And would you still consider it a mindless habit (at least initially)?

Raymond Cattell, in 1947, was the first to connect the term "erg" with our measurement of conative energy in his "The ergic theory of attitude and sentiment measurement" from the Educational and Psychological Measurement. Proof for the finite nature of our conative energy is rather intuitive. Think about your physical energy. There is a clear point when you can no longer exert physical energy -- think of runners that fall exhausted at the end of a race. No amount of will power could keep their physical energy going -- it has simply run out, been used up. And in this instance, the only way for the runner to regain physical strength is to rest. The same is true of conative energy. There is a point when a high Fact Finder can no longer research. Likewise, high Quick Starts can reach a point of inability to brainstorm. The only remedy for conative exhaustion is to rest (a.k.a do non-striving (recreational) activities...or frankly, do nothing!).
 

So with all of this in mind, think back to the idea of taking on your most hated tasks at the beginning of the day (the implication is that these tasks go against your instincts). You have a finite amount of energy to exert at the beginning of the day, and if you throw that energy into a highly depleting task, then you will be left quickly exhausted with little to show for it. If, however, you throw those "fresh" ergs of energy into your strengths, you will accomplish much. Thus, you can broach those hated, menial tasks at the end of the day, when they are forced to become mindless habits (since, at that point, you simply have little to no conative energy left to give them).