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Spring 2003

Heard Any Good Stories Lately?

Stories have power and people in organizations will tell them. The question is are people spreading the stories that reinforce organizational values or the stories of the naysayers? Stories can serve three important functions in organizations. First, stories spread among employees give you a temperature check on how employees view the organization. Second, stories can reinforce the values of the organization and finally stories are an excellent teaching tool.

When everybody in the organization knows that Keisha over in software support pulled an 11th hour coup by resolving a software problem and keeping one of your largest customers, that's great, IF the story has a happy ending and Keisha was recognized and rewarded. If Keisha was ignored or worse, reprimanded for bending a policy, then the story becomes "ain't it awful the way they treat us around here."

Keisha stories with happy endings let you know that the attitude being spread is "We work hard and it's worth it because good work is noticed." Keisha stories with unhappy endings spread the "why bother to bust your can around here, nobody notices" attitude.

In addition to listening to the stories employees tell, publicize the stories of your organizational heroes. Tell the stories of those you value. Let's say Ray over in shipping implements a color-coding system that saves time and money, tell his story often, it can reinforce being proactive, cost conscious, improvement-oriented, creative or other related values.

Finally, stories are great teachers. Incorporate stories of your organizational heroes into new employee orientation. Also incorporate these stories into other types of training. Clear, brief stories often convey concepts more quickly than more lengthy description.

If you doubt the power of stories, just remember "and they lived happily :."

Quick Hits

• Stuck on a project? Let your right brain take over for a while.
  • Working harder won't help; instead work on a different kind of task. If your project was detail oriented, do something more global for a while.
  • Do a physical activity. A walk around the block can overcome the mental block.
  • Start projects early when possible. This will give you time to let your thinking "percolate" that is, let your right brain develop intuitions about how to proceed.
  • Talk to a colleague. Sometimes hearing yourself talk clarifies direction.