How can you use storytelling to create momentum and excitement around a digital transformation?

The value of a story is to increase connection; to show that you're a real person interacting with real people and things in the real world. Without that, you may be making a lot of sense, but still failing to reach a large part of your audience. To make them really care about the subject, they've got to care on some level about you as a person. You've got to show that you have feelings, failures and follies just like them. I say this as someone who has fallen flat myself by failing to follow this basic rule!

Stories are powerful as they give confidence and insight into how we’ve tackled problems before and managed to overcome or learn from them. This motivates to drive forwards.

I will never forget the time, years ago, when a colleague introduced me to someone by saying, "She's a storyteller!" I was embarrassed. What a way to be introduced! How about just my name and a credential or two? Then he proceeded to rave about a personal example I had shared in a long-ago class he once attended, and the profound impact it has had on his life. What a humbling experience! I realized in that moment that I needed to lean more into my often-suppressed tendency to share personal insights. Being appropriately authentic and vulnerable is a powerful gift we can give to those we have the privilege to serve and influence.

The best way is to picture the employee's situation after a succesfull introduction of the digitalisation. What works best is to use scenes out of films, where they see the application of digitalisation in a understandable way; Afterwards you can discuss the items which were interesting in the film, where they also would like to experience. Try then to picture the organisation of the future after digitalisation and especially their role and place as employee in the new organisation. They will also see then the changes they have to make to be part of this succes. They can then voice out their worries and aspirations, where in the implementation plan we can take care off. Those who don't want to be part of this traject are free to leave.

An example I have experienced is the use of storytelling to show what success looks like in everyday terms! Stories are better remembered especially the ones that are relatable to the current realities... People see themselves or their representation in such stories and thus, connect better

By definition, a digital transformation story is a narrative about change. Organisations often use a "burning platform" framing to communicate the need for change. But in today's world, change is not a destination but a continual process. Running away from the old model can be psychologically taxing. Work out if you can reframe the issue as a "north star" - a better future the whole organisation is building towards.

Data matter, of course, they shine a light on where to place our attention. But they’re not as compelling as a story complete with human emotions that conveys.. ..the good you want to achieve for your stakeholders ..how you’ve been thwarted in your attempts to deliver it ..how a mentor or close friend challenged the assumptions you were making and helped you learn some critical life lessons ..what you’re doing differently as a result ..the successes you’ve accomplished and an indication of the struggles you still have to overcome.

Imagine a scenario where a customer has a pressing issue, and we can't address it efficiently due to outdated systems.However, with digital transformation, we have the chance to close this gap, to modernize our operations and create a seamless customer experience. The transformation will involve implementing a new integrated system that connects our teams seamlessly. We'll invest in employee training, ensuring everyone is equipped to maximize this new technology. Our leaders will be closely involved, guiding the transition and listening to your concerns.

Deconstructing old stories and beliefs is the first step in building new foundations within an organization. This involves replacing limiting beliefs with behaviors that align with the company's values. However, values only truly come to life when they are collectively woven into a coherent narrative, which is vital for developing a strong corporate culture.

Two words are the most important: "Believable Momentum." A clear vision is critical, but it needs to be broken into discrete milestones so achievements can be celebrated. This creates confidence in the transformational journey—or, said another way, it makes the organizational momentum believable and relatable.

A small pitch - Sharing digital transformation journey is not just about facts and figures; it's about a vision we deeply believe in. We have to acknowledge challenges and embrace them with enthusiasm. We're not just telling a story; we're showcasing our collective passion and confidence in this change. We will use diverse mediums to engage everyone because the transformation is about unity and progress.

One lesson I learnt early in my career is that, if you want to get a message across, you need to tell it 7 different times in 7 different ways. This is true for storytelling as well- get creative around how to share your stories in different ways across different platforms.

Speak with passion, let your genuine enthusiasm for the transformation shine through. Be transparent as honesty and humility will make your story relatable and trustworthy and blend of mediums text, visuals, audio, video to cater to different learning styles and reinforce your message across each platform. Engage and make sure your narrative spark an emotional response.

Let's imagine we've shared our digital transformation story through a variety of platforms: a company-wide email, a webinar, and an engaging infographic on our intranet. We observed that the email was opened by 85% of employees, the webinar had 500 attendees, and the infographic received 1,000 views on the intranet. Now, to evaluate the impact, we look at behavioral changes. We notice a 30% increase in employees participating in the training sessions showcasing a positive shift in engagement and proactive learning. By comparing these results to our initial objectives, we can affirm that our story effectively reached our audience, engaged them, and instigated a tangible impact in line with our transformation strategy.

Listen to the questions employees ask. They’re important clues about what’s missing in your story and other communication. How? Gather questions from multiple sources (such as, town halls/meetings, discussion threads and training sessions), analyze what you collected and identify themes. For example, perhaps you found lots of questions about Step 2 in a new digital process. It’s time to ramp up communication about that step and/or refresh existing communication.

To capture the evolving nature of a story create opportunities for others to tell theirs. Hold town halls, have lunches, or other informal gatherings in which the sole agenda is for others to tell their story of transformation journey so far. Encourage everyone to learn from each other’s stories, not just think in silos i.e. their own story. Get to what is and isn’t resonating deeply through questions like.. ..what’s excites and pees you off about what we’re doing ..what’s going well, what needs to change and what’s not happened yet ..what the prize for you downstream when all upheaval is over?

Help people to find themselves in the story you’re telling as well, do they have a role to play? Who is the villain? Who feels like a victim during this digital transformation? Who might emerge as a hero and what role would a hero play ?

Make your story about the transformation a personal one. Open the kimono a bit and tell it how it is for you, good and bad, what’s exciting, self doubts and what keeps you awake at night. Encourage others to be equally candid. Avoid “corporate speak” and burning-bridge narratives that induce fear in people because of the do-this-or-we-die chapter. Fear closes our communication and creative capabilities down, two qualities that are vital to any successful transformation.

I'm a bit puzzled by the main topic The first time I read about the concept of Digital Transformation was probably 30 years ago :-) but in 1993 companies were not digitalized at all. Now after 3 decades, do we really have to speak about digitalization,again? I firmly believe that this is an ongoing cultural process that involves organizational behaviours such as adaptability and flexibility. Moreover it's not "also about culture" IT IS culture. A culture characterized of curiosity, lateral thinking, a learning mindset, supported by the right policies, strategies and tactics aiming to ambitious yet coherent goals. Yes, digitalization also involve up/re-skilling, storytelling, etc, but these are just natural actions to support every wave.