One of the hottest management tools around is something you might not have thought about since primary school: storytelling.
Storytelling is more than just telling interesting or funny anecdotes. It is about using the power of stories to unlock new connections and reveal tacit knowledge. Because the human mind relates to stories in a different way from the way it relates to analysis, storytelling can succeed in releasing new ideas in areas where conventional analysis or presentations might leave a group merely looking dazed.
Storytelling can also be used as a motivation tool to excite people’s hearts, not just their minds. It is thus a useful tool for times of disruptive change, when you need to create buy-in for new ideas or foster a sense of collaboration.
MinLaw’s Strategic Planning Division (SPD) officers have undergone training in using storytelling as a tool for Knowledge Management, and have already conducted a strategic retreat for the Intellectual Property Policy Division (IPPD) using the storytelling method.
Using a tale featuring Jack and the beanstalk, giants, cows, golden eggs, and even golden carrots, SPD helped IPPD officers explore their unstated assumptions and push beyond their current thinking in order to come up with strategies relating to IP.
SPD will be pleased to support any MinLaw department that wishes to use this tool to develop and tell stories so as to unleash the flood of ideas.
How storytelling can be useful for management
Action: Analysis excites the mind, but storytelling excites the heart, and is thus effective for getting buy-in.
Collaboration: Telling a story encourages other people to share their own experiences, which unleashes the ideas inherent in a group.
Knowledge management: People can use telling stories to describe problems and how they were (or were not) solved. This way an organisation can bring out tacit knowledge from its people.
Scenario planning: A story can help evoke a concrete vision of the future, inspiring listeners to consider various images of the future and help them anticipate potential
changes.
Values: Stories can illustrate the values of an organisation, thereby bringing those values to life (although leaders’ actions have to also be consistent with the stories they tell).
Credits to: Power of Storytelling











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