Why Innovation Story Telling Is Important For Your Business

In this interview, Susan Linder and I discuss why innovation storytelling is important for your business. Please subscribe to my channel  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmcq4i3fPqzkfKfznnPIGnQ?sub_confirmation=1

Susan's contact info

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https://www.facebook.com/SusanLindner

https://www.facebook.com/SusanLindner

youtube.com/channel/UCId9xpyIaSwD25Z9ZsiZ3-g

So innovation storytelling has five critical elements. So the first one, when we learn to tell a great story around innovation, we have to paint a picture of that future that nobody else can see, or at least this very ancient product.

I mean, Ken you've been in the copier business, you know what that multifunction printer life looks like? How do you keep making something that's so ubiquitous, interesting to people? Right? I mean, the copiers are certainly not 10,000 years old, but it's pretty old in American business life. Right? So we need to make it exciting.

So the first place we start with is a shared history. That's step number one. So where can we all get on the same page about what this product or service is and what it's been in our lives, whether it's been great or awful. Tell us about that shared history, where it comes up for us, where the memories are associated with that product, that shared history.

And great story telling as a reminder starts with great listening. So do we even know what our prospect or our customer or a team member, what matters to them? What's interesting or painful about let's call it a copier. Like what are some great memories about printing out invitations to your three-year-old's birthday party?

Or maybe it's making that, you know, not so, um, safe for work copy, you know, late at night when you just can't get the damn toner to function or whatever that may be. What are the funny poignant, painful elements of our shared history? Step one. 

Step two is our purpose and values. So what are we hoping to achieve with this machine, this product, or service? What are our core values around it? Do we want to make more money? Do we want to be more efficient? Do we want to be more productive? Do we want to get a raise or a promotion? What are the values and our purpose around this product or service? 

And again, that takes asking the prospect or asking your team member, why does it matter? Why are you even invested in this? Why do you care? 

Step number three is the hardest part in innovation storytelling. It's saying a new message. Something is going to now fundamentally shift that wasn't here before. So I think of the greatest viral storytellers of all time, ken are the prophets: Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad,these are the guys who were able to tell stories that 5,000, 2000 years later, we're still telling these stories.

When we have a message, that is a breakthrough message, right? When we go for an eye for an eye to turn the other cheek, that's a message that travels around the world with 12 guys telling it.... you know, it's not Twitter, it's not Facebook. It's a story that says we can't go back to doing things the old way.

And for any of your listeners who are trying to inspire change, you need a message that says we're burning all the boats. These were great memories and great history we had together, but it's time for something new and we can't go back to doing it the old way anymore. And we will not, we cannot go back that way.

It doesn't work for us anymore. And in fact, on either side of that equation, there will be winners and there will be losers. And this new way of doing things is where the winners live. So that's part of innovation storytelling.