Storytelling for CIOs: From niche to bestseller

Once seen as an outlier for progressive IT chiefs, storytelling is now becoming formalized as an essential device to communicate.

What do the following quotes have in common? “Call me Ishmael;” “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen;” “I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.”

Whether it’s Moby-Dick, Nineteen Eighty-Four, or I Capture the Castle, respectively, these opening lines from classic novels make us want to read on because we are piqued, amused, surprised, or intrigued in some way. A love of narrative is a constant factor of the human state; scientists put it down to a feel-good hormone called oxytocin, but whatever the reason, who among us can resist a rich story, engagingly told and amply illustrated?

Storytelling is as old as humanity itself and it’s core to the fundamentals of faith, politics, and marketing. IT leaders and CIOs have also long recognized the power of storytelling, but only recently has the phenomenon become formalized with many saying they’ve attended workshops or seminars on the topic with the express intention of improving their sense of narrative and power to communicate and persuade. Going beyond that, some said they attended sessions on fiction, poetry and scriptwriting. “I take what I learned in the scriptwriting seminar about passion and the narrative arc into every meeting I attend,” one chief technology officer said.

So here, we explore why so many IT leaders attempt to improve this sense of narrative and ability to spin tales, and how it can make a difference to the business.

Why tell stories?

The late Richard Sykes, CIO of pharmaceuticals giant ICI in the 1990s and later a columnist for CIO magazine, famously scripted starkly different scenarios of the future of ICI for board members early in his IT role.

In one, he mocked up a cover of the Financial Times, showing the company’s stock soaring and praising its technologically enabled innovations. In another, he showed another newspaper with doomsday headlines blaming the company’s failure to invest in IT for its demise.

“In that one meeting, I got the green light to invest and I always tried to explain technology in words and narratives that the non-techie board could absorb,” he said. “I used figures of speech and financial terms they understood, and I kept well away from technical jargon because that wasn’t my audience. A good CIO needs to know who they’re speaking to and how they like to absorb information and points of view.”

Others agree that IT, with all its complexity and esoteric language, is the perfect candidate to utilize storytelling.

“For a CIO, or anyone in a senior position with responsibility for data, the best way to succeed is to make projects come to life,” says Caroline Carruthers, formerly a pioneering chief data officer at Network Rail, which manages train stations and infrastructure in the UK, and now CEO of data consultancy Carruthers and Jackson.

“You can give people all the dashboards, charts and figures in the world, but it’s when you help them understand the thinking behind what you do and bring it to life that you get the buy-in you need.”

Often, CIOs use stories as a form of Esperanto or a translation layer.

“I always find there’s benefit in using a story to help my audience understand what can sometimes be very technical concepts that I’m trying to communicate to non-technical people,” says Adam Miller, CIO of UK insurer, Markerstudy Group. “Get the story right, then people understand the plan and you’ve a much better chance of them buying in. I also find that a good story is just as important for highlighting the impact of inaction too, which can often be the easiest option for people to take.”

The uses of storytelling

Storytelling can be used to persuade senior executives to release budget, plot a change in strategy, or share good and bad news.

Claire Trachet, CEO of UK business advisory firm Trachet, says companies such as Domino’s, T-Mobile and Uber have deployed narratives that appeal to employee emotions during change initiatives in order to avoid the fate of most change programs: failure.

She adds that storytelling is also being used increasingly in M&A, and she’s advised on Accenture’s recent acquisition of UK creative change management consultancy, The Storytellers. The consulting giant said it was buying the 29-person, London-based company to help clients articulate and activate their vision and change strategies.

Storytelling is also increasingly deployed as an external method to delight customers. Think, for example, of the way Strava uses its app for users to compare data about their runs, hikes, and cycle rides to ignite passion and competitiveness. In recent years, data storytelling has become endemic as a way to show complex information supported by rich media, and today, we see that everywhere from bank statements to investment updates.

“Think of your traditional PowerPoint,” says Porter Thorndike, principal product manager at data management and intelligence company ibi, which helps customers craft interactive reports for their audiences. “The worst are the ones with tons of text, slightly better are the ones with bullets, and the best are in a visual story format. Think about the rise in popularity of Tableau or Power BI. Visual interactivity helps people make sense of their data, consume it, and communicate it back as a data story. That’s what data storytelling is: visualisation plus narrative plus context.”

Miguel Traquina, CIO of biometric authentication company iProov, agrees.

“Everybody loves a good story,” he says. “It’s powerful to inspire and motivate teams, and it frequently helps me emotionally connect individuals with set goals and objectives, fostering a sense of purpose. Ultimately, a balance of facts and humor can make your story even more engaging. It helps to maintain interest while ensuring the core message isn’t lost.”

The heart of an effective story

So what are some best practices in storytelling?

“Storytelling is one of our oldest skills, used to both relate experience and lessons, and shape the path forward,” says Jon Collins of analyst firm GigaOm. “Look no further than Aesop’s Fables for the former, and think of any heroic speech for the latter. Using storytelling has several facets. First, the structure and narrative arc of a story is core to make a case for change. Start with context, follow with the challenge, set out the steps of the journey. Second, detail the story characters and how they interact, with examples. And third, the way the story is told is no different for children or weary executives. Excite the audience and if you can, make them a hero or heroine in their own story. Make the story worth telling and tell it in a way worthy of the story. Ultimately, if technology strategy is about transformation, this means selling a vision with charisma and charm. These are, fundamentally, storytelling skills.”

Markerstudy’s Miller adds that a skilled storyteller can be captivating, leaving the listener hanging off every word. “I find you always remember those who tell a story you can personally relate to,” he says. “You need to think about your audience with a story just like you would with any big presentation, and a well-crafted story will help land the message.”

Comedy, drama, tragedy: know your audience

Leaders also stress the importance of planting the right message, tone, and format for each audience.

“There are two things that are crucial in storytelling: understanding your audience and the point you’re trying to get across,” says Carruthers. “Everything else must be tailored depending on those two things, as different styles will be appropriate in different contexts. If I was in a serious meeting, I wouldn’t use humor as it could belittle the situation, whereas if I’m telling a data story on stage, humor can be an incredibly effective way to make a dry topic relatable and, ultimately, ensure people remember what you’re telling them.”

Miller adds: “It’s not easy to get the balance right when communicating technical topics. Sometimes you can come up with something where you think, ‘I’ve nailed that,’ but then see blank faces after the delivery since you’ve misread the level of technical understanding of the audience. I’ve had success taking people on a platform consolidation journey and telling a story around this. Equally I’ve struggled with explaining the journey from an old three-tier data-center configuration to hybrid multi-cloud and hyper-converged infrastructure – it was just too technical for the audience.”

Is this the promis’d end?

So, what happens next? Unsurprisingly, generative AI intervenes here. Thorndike of ibi says he expects to see more machine-generated storytelling to create a range of narratives on an epic scale.

Traquina at iProov foresees AI, AR, and VR making stories more immersive and engaging.

“AI can certainly help you tell better stories,” says Miller. “However, nothing hits like a personal story, and that takes a human touch. Storytelling is an artform, and those who master it can be hugely impactful.”

Carruthers argues that perhaps storytelling as a term has had its day, though.

“The word conjures up scenes of reading a book to your kids before bed, whereas, in reality, storytelling in the context of data and technology is a critical business function,” she says. “What we’re actually doing is engaging, so I think we need to evolve the terminology so people understand the value of making dry topics relatable.”

But for an alternative view, trenchant critic of technological groupthink, James Woudhuysen says the appeal of stories is greatest in childhood. “The notion that people can only understand complexity when a narrative is spun around it is patronizing, glib, and infantile,” he says. “Everyone would like to tell stories like Thackeray but they’re not for management meetings or Post-it notes-on-a-wall feedback sessions. It’s foolish and very American but it appears to be stronger than ever.”

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