Brandlore, Larry's newest book, is due out in 2009. Learn how to build a brand, sustain it, and elevate it to win the hearts and minds of key stakeholders. Stay tuned...
First published in 2002, Legendary Brands was Larry's first book and explores the narrative structure of some of the world's leading brands. Drawing upon cognitive psychology and the study of classic mythology, the book demonstrates that great brands succeed by tapping a universal story structure.
Mad Man's Creed is a collection of 33 poems about hope, loss and the curious promise of that which lies in the spaces in between. Written in a three-year span of life-changing experiences, this is a collection of random thoughts and narrative fun.Strategy is Storytelling
Cocktail chatter is always a challenge for me because inevitably somebody will ask what I do. Explaining that I’m a strategist usually provokes an empty stare. It also sounds pretentious. I try to elaborate, but it never works and inevitably we choose a safe pop culture topic.
What is a strategist and what is strategy? There’s generally no consensus on the perfect definition of strategy, even from the gurus and pundits. Michael Porter will tell you that strategy is about choices–choosing upon a distinct set of activities that provide competitive advantage. Henry Mintzberg argues that strategy is about emerging patterns of decisions over time. The funny thing about strategy is that both perspectives are right and both somewhat miss the best part of strategy. Strategy is about storytelling. Story is strategy.
Imagine a tribal war camp somewhere in the desert hundreds of years ago. The warriors gather around a fire to discuss the next day’s plan of attack. The tribe probably did decide upon the activities they would emphasize in battle: surprise, a forward march, flanking positions. And undoubtedly, the perspective of the elder warriors and tribal chiefs influenced the priority activities. But the ideas had to be communicated and understood. Something had to link the activities together into a plan of action. That plan had to inspire. It had to have a common theme that helped warriors make decisions in the field when random circumstances forced split second decisions. The plan needed a logic, a linear flow of reasoning that convinced other men to put their lives on the line. In short, the plan had to be a story.
I get paid to review, critique and develop the strategies of some of the world’s biggest companies. Some are better than others, but the best have always been rooted in a good story. They may not ever surface on the New York Times Bestseller List, but these strategies read well. They read concisely. They read simply. Sometimes, they appear so simple and concise that you have to wonder why someone didn’t think of the strategy sooner. It’s a powerful experience to sit through a good strategy presentation. And when it’s really good, people relay the thinking around the water cooler the next day with most of the logic still intact.
Storytelling requires logic. A good story has a beginning, middle and an end. Each part of the story leads to the next part in an orderly fashion to deliver a perfectly natural final conclusion, while still delivering enough revealing twists and turns to keep the audience engaged. This is the art of the storyteller. It is also the art of the strategist.
Unfortunately, many companies have great strategic ideas in search of strategies. These companies have the data. They excel at performing certain activities. They have insights and perspective about what the data means and how the activities influence the data. But when it comes to stringing data, insights and activities together in a manner that communicates a plan of action, they fall short. They lack a story.
My favorite example of this concept is from General George S. Patton when he delivered his most famous speech to the 3rd Army on June 5, 1944. Patton had a masterful strategy. He knew that to win he had to keep his troops moving. There would be no entrenchment. On the eve D-Day, Patton told his troops of his plans in a rousing, famous speech known for its color, frankness, and imagery as much as its strategic insight. With his men fully engaged in his storytelling, Patton told them, “we’re not holding anything; we are advancing constantly, and we’re not interested in holding onto anything except the enemy. We’re going to hold onto him by the nose and kick him in the ass.”
Related posts:
- Storytelling Architecture At their best, brands tell stories. Sometimes it is overt,...
- About Larry Larry Vincent is a writer and a marketer. He leads...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Tags: storytelling, Strategy, theory
October 31st, 2008 at 9:13 am
Just discovered your blog. I’m an enterprise architect (blank stares all around - usually cocktail parties are ok, cause I’m also a soccer Dad..). I’m finding more often that I’m using these techniques to communicate architecture strategy and roadmaps to execs who are focussed on execution and missing the story (lots of data, flows, activities, but no connective thread). Thanks for the insight.