Communicate by Telling Stories
This is a story about telling stories – an important communication tool.
Before Create the Future Night at Boston’s Harvard Club, where I would be interviewed by Harvard Business School Prof. Amy Edmondson, I had dinner with my friend John Reichenbach. John is co-president of the Boston HBS alumni association. John urged me to tell more stories. He knows that I sometimes talk like I am giving a consultant’s report with lists and bullet points. John said that the audience would take home more lessons learned from the stories I tell than from a bullet point recommendations list.
Driving home, I thought of the story of when I wore a Hawaiian tropical shirt while giving a speech in Chicago in November.
Several years ago, I spent most of the week before Thanksgiving with my teenage best friend who lived in Honolulu. He and I had been lifeguards together on the beach at Ocean City, Maryland. During my visit, I tried surfing in Hawaii’s big waves – it was exciting and hard to do.
I flew from Honolulu to Chicago to speak at a conference. My flight landed at 6 AM, and the airline lost my checked bag. During the cab ride in from the airport, the wind drove cold sleet against the windshield. I was not in Hawaii.
The conference speakers had a 7:30 AM meeting at the hotel. I wore the blue blazer and tropical shirt I was wearing on the flight from Hawaii. The conference organizer suggested that I find another shirt and put on a tie. My bag was lost, and no men’s store was open in downtown Chicago at 8 AM.
I gave my talk about how government regulations change the competitive structure between and within industries wearing my blue blazer and tropical shirt. I told my story – a flight from Hawaii, a lost bag, and a tropical shirt in Chicago in November. Over the next several years, I met people who heard my talk at other meetings and conferences. They remembered the story about my Hawaiian shirt. How much they remember about government regulations changing competition within an industry was less clear.
When we got on stage at the Harvard Club, Prof. Edmondson asked why I said that leaders create the future. What does that even mean? I told the story of Polaroid Corp’s success and failure. Polaroid, under its founder, Edwin Land, invented instant photography and owned that market. Polaroid was internationally successful and profitable.
Polaroid invested heavily in digital photography technology. When Polaroid had the technology to make digital cameras, its board decided not to launch them as a new product line. Nikon and others brought digital cameras to the market, and cell phones became digital cameras in everyone’s pocket. Polaroid went into bankruptcy.
Leaders create the future for their company by the decisions they make – by the choices they make. Polaroid’s bankruptcy did not just happen. It was the direct result of the company’s leaders’ decision to protect its instant film sales by not introducing digital cameras to the market. That decision chose the path forward leading to Polaroid’s bankruptcy.
Waiting for Spring
One of my favorite walks is around the marshes and pond at Great Meadows in Concord, Massachusetts. During warm months, ducks, geese, and other migratory birds are frequent visitors. I take my camera to capture light on the water. Speed walkers rush by. Others sit on a bench and let peace fill their mind. This bench waits in the snow and waits for spring and the rebirth of life.
