Welcome to the last epic installment of our visual and storytelling StraightTalk series, in which we explore the power of story.

We know that in order to succeed as business architects, it’s not just about creating architectures and ideas for the future – we also need to convey those ideas, influence others, and incite action. Enter storytelling.

We spoke with a master storyteller, guest star Tamara Park, who is an award-winning television producer and documentary director who captures stories on five continents. She is also co-founder of StoryNow, a media tech company that leverages a unique app and platform that is designed to help corporations and nonprofits support the power of video storytelling. In her recent podcast, Tamara gives us the straight talk on why story matters, how to tell a story, and the role of the business architect within an organization’s story. This podcast is magical and you’ll see the role of a business architect with completely new eyes after you listen to 15-Minutes with Tamara Park: How Business Architecture Practices Can Leverage Storytelling For Greater Success.

This installment also features an extra special surprise: an animated video created by another master storyteller and previous StraightTalk guest star, Dr. Raj Ramesh, on how business architects can master the art of storytelling and explaining complex business topics.

Let’s get started on this journey.

First, why is good storytelling so important? If the message and content are good, why isn’t that enough?

Tamara: “Story has the power to gain our attention, which is a rare commodity these days. It’s how we best learn, it helps us to remember and can even compel us to act – especially considering that business architects are so interested in transformation.

There are some really fascinating statistics coming out about the power of story. For example, when someone reads text, they tend to remember 10% of a message, but when they are taken up into a story, especially a video story, they can remember 95% of a message.

So, we are hard-wired for story. The neuroscience shows that we actually create a chemical cocktail when we are taken up into a story, releasing cortisol, oxytocin and dopamine. Oxytocin has even been dubbed the moral molecule and when released people are more trustworthy, generous, compassionate and charitable – and they do things that are good for organizations and for the world.”

Why is the concept of story so important for business architects?

Tamara: “I am so excited to see business architects really embrace the power of story for two reasons. First, I see business architects being central to the role of story – it can really fuel a business architect’s identity. I see business architects playing a vital role as the guide within an organization’s story, to create order out of chaos to help take the organization from a problem to be solved or a goal to be chased, to action, success, and transformation.

Second, it can fuel a business architect’s effectiveness. As business architects embrace the power of story and their role as the guide, they not only have the capacity to help organizations make significant transformation, but can activate transformation in individuals as well.”

How do we tell a story?

Tamara: “Let me briefly walk you through story structure. As we explore how story structure relates to the discipline of business architecture, I invite you to enter the story in the role of the guide and consider the protagonist (a.k.a. hero) as your organization.

• Context/Opening Scene – In the first moments of a story, we discover the world of the protagonist. Business architects use their skilled curiosity and keen powers of observation to understand the culture of organizations.
• Status Quo (a.k.a. Stasis) – This is the survivable reality that the protagonist is currently experiencing. Business architects understand and reflect the specificities of the status quo to equip organizations in decision-making when the challenges mount.
• Inciting Incident – This stage represents disruption. (And there’s no story without disruption.) Something happens that causes the protagonist’s reality to shift (or even implode) and it can never go back to the status quo. Business architects often enter the scene because of a disruption – or they bring disruption as they guide change. It is important to recognize here that an organization’s equilibrium has been lost.
• Quest – The Inciting Incident sets the protagonist on the quest. This is the hero’s journey to solve a problem or chase a goal. Energy is invested in trying to create a new equilibrium. Business architects help organizations clearly articulate what they are going after from the very beginning.
• Conflict – This is the core of the story and the longest piece – the messy middle – where the protagonist encounters one challenge after another that try to block them from reaching the desired goal. Desire defines the story, but conflict drives the story. Challenges and conflict reveal two things: 1) The true character of the protagonist, or in psychological terms, the difference between the true self and false self (i.e. what the organization says it’s about versus what it’s really about demonstrated by its actions and culture). 2) How much the protagonist desires the goal. To overcome great challenges, you need to have a great goal and desire. Organizations can have external goals (e.g. growth, effectiveness, etc.) but it’s becoming increasingly critical that they have internal ones as well (e.g. social impact, sustainability leader, values-driven culture, etc.). Business architects help organizations navigate the messy middle and create order out of chaos. They also help an organization remember the goal and the WHY. Keep in mind that conflict is the biggest part of every story and likely the most vital part of your job.
• The Choice – As a character moves towards the end of the story, there is a dark night of the soul, a sense that all is lost. This is where our hero faces The Choice, a critical decision point where the protagonist must decide if they are All In. In great stories it’s never simply a choice of good or evil. It’s either two good choices or two bad ones, but it’s always tough. All great stories are about transformation, so what is required is for the protagonist or organization to go all in. Business architects help organizations make excellent decisions, even when they are in the throes of change.
• Climax – Following The Choice, we reach the reality that is either a grand success or spectacular failure (often with lots of learning). Business Architects help organizations understand the stakes from the beginning and navigate through challenges. However, it is up to the organizations to make the choices, leading to their own successes or failures.
• Denouement – The little moment at the end of story to make sense of it. This is the happily ever after or the tragic end. While this is the shortest part of the story, it’s vital because it helps the audience take in the fullness of the story – to savor it or be stunned by it. Business architects help organizations pause to assimilate their own story, to celebrate the success or soak in the lessons of failure.

In summary, as the guide in an organization’s story, business architects create order out of chaos and help organizations make good choices in the midst of complicated challenges. They help organizations rally new courage, and take them from idea to execution, and from problem to success as they carve out a path for the organization to go where they’ve never gone before. You help make the hero’s journey possible! As business architects you are transformational forces, guiding organizations to better places, better choices, better outcomes and success that they couldn’t achieve on their own.”

And here’s a diagram that summarizes this journey with a really cool illustration. Download and enjoy.

What can we learn from other business architects?

Business architects research, understand, synthesize and model a lot of information about business and technology. But how do we distill all of that into a story we can tell? How do we explain complex topics to senior executives and other stakeholders? How do we craft compelling pieces? Dr. Raj Ramesh has created a captivating animated video where he shares some of his experiences and what has worked for him — It’s storytelling on storytelling. Whoa, meta! He also gives you ideas for how you can play to your own strengths and what comes naturally to you in order to craft stories in your unique way.

Make sure to check out How to Master the Art of Storytelling by Dr. Raj Ramesh. It is some of the best 5 minutes and 28 seconds you’ll spend today.

In Closing…

Tamara: “As kids, we fall in love with story. I encourage you all to play with story and think about it, and have fun. Embrace your role as the guide, but also just let yourself fall more in love with story – and consider your own story in the transformation.

I’d like to leave you with one last quote from Michael Margolis:

“The stories we tell literally make the world. If you want to change the world, you need to change your story. This truth applies both to individuals and to institutions.”

As business architects, when you help an organization change their story – you are actually changing the world.”

More Good Stuff…

15-Minutes with Tamara Park: How Business Architecture Practices Can Leverage Storytelling For Greater Success (StraightTalk podcast): Just in case you missed that link right there in the beginning, make sure to check out Tamara’s podcast where she discusses the power of story and how to tell a good one, which was the basis for this post.

40 Days of Story: Let’s Wander, Wonder Together (Blog by Tamara Park): Story is not just for communicating with and influencing others. As Tamara reminds us, individuals can leverage the power of story to help with personal transformation and healing. Take a 40-day journey with her to explore your own story, in just a few minutes a day.

How to Master the Art of Storytelling (Dr. Raj Ramesh on YouTube): An animated video on how to master the art of storytelling, from the storytelling master, Raj Ramesh. He’s brilliant at turning complex topics into simple, visual, compelling and actionable messages.

P.S. Just in case you missed it, make sure to check out Raj’s StraightTalk podcast on Business Architecture and Artificial Intelligence.

Illuminate: Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies and Symbols (Nancy Duarte and Patti Sanchez): This visual and accessible communication guidebook will show you how major organizations have mobilized people to embrace bold changes. To envision the future is one thing, getting others to go there with you is another.

Don’t miss these other books and resources by presentation guru Nancy Duarte as well.

Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences (book by Nancy Duarte): How to make a strong connection with your audience and lead them to purposeful action – and convey content with passion, persuasion and impact.

slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations (Nancy Duarte): A must-read, highly useful guide with practical approaches to visual story development. This one is a classic.

The Blog (Nancy Duarte): Amazing resources and blog from Nancy Duarte.

The Power of Myth (Joseph Campbell): An oldie but a goodie. Check out this timeless six-part conversation with Bill Moyers and mythologist Joseph Campbell on the hero’s journey. The full series is available through various streaming services such as this one here.

How to Tell a Story (TED Talk Playlist): An amazing collection of TED Talks about the craft from storytelling masters.

The Secret Structure of Great Talks (TED Talk): An inspiring and useful TED Talk by Nancy Duarte. Many great talks have a common structure that helps their message resonate with listeners and Nancy Duarte shares practical lessons on how to make a powerful call-to-action with yours. “You have the power to change the world.  Deep inside of you, every single one of you has the most powerful device known to man. And that’s an idea.”

The Stories We Choose To Live (TED Talk): A thoughtful TED Talk by Michael Margolis on how you can take ownership of your story and be the master of your destiny.

Welcome to the second installment of our visual and storytelling StraightTalk series. This one is epic.

In this installment, we explore how we can leverage two highly engaging, visual techniques – graphic recording and graphic facilitation – as part of our business architecture practice. What we can achieve with business architecture is only as good as our ability to communicate, influence, and connect with other people. The two powerful illustrative techniques allow us to do so on a human level that raises our collective understanding.

We spoke with two masters on the topic, Sarah Greer and Michael Pemberton, and this post is a blend of both conversations. While we highlight the key points with our usual brevity, be sure to listen to the two podcasts featuring Sarah and Michael for their richness, color, and engaging stories. These are must-hear podcasts where and you can experience our guests’ mastery and passion for their profession.

Sarah Greer is a graphic facilitator, focused on working with Fortune 100 companies undergoing large-scale transformations. In our podcast interview, 5-Minutes with Sarah Greer, she grounds us on the foundational concepts and uses of graphic recording and facilitation. As you will see later on, Sarah demonstrated her graphic recording genius by creating an original masterpiece, exclusively designed for StraightTalk.

Michael Pemberton is an industrial engineer by training who has specialized in business architecture over his 25+ year career in both the corporate arena and consulting engagements. He is a rare and talented individual who heavily leverages graphic recording and facilitation as part of his strategy and business architecture practice. In our latest podcast installment, 15-minutes with Michael Pemberton, Michael shares with us how he learned these techniques as well as success stories from using these techniques in practice. You will see some of his examples later on in this post.

Here goes.

What exactly are these concepts of graphic recording and graphic facilitation? What are the differences between the two techniques?

Sarah: First, it’s important to note that the visual practitioners’ community is a very small and friendly group – and there is no official definition of these practices. So, here’s how I interpret them:

• Graphic Recording is essentially visual live capture of the content for an event or meeting. With this technique, there is little to no interaction between the graphic recorder and the speaker and participants.
• Graphic Facilitation also includes visual live capture of the content for an event or meeting, but the graphic facilitator serves as a guide throughout the entire meeting process. The graphic facilitator is instrumental in shaping the meeting, from influencing the agenda to selecting the right participants and venue. They also help co-design frameworks that support the right dialogue at the right time and of course help to guide or facilitate the conversation.

What is the value in leveraging these techniques?

Sarah: You know what they say – a picture is worth a thousand words. In today’s world of text, e-mail, Snapchat, and other social media platforms, people find themselves limiting the rich and holistic use of visual communications. So, the value of these visual techniques is that it brings people together – like a community – around a specific topic, challenge or opportunity. We can then shape the group’s view into what they might see if we fast-forwarded into the future.

When should we use them?

Sarah: Graphic recording works really well for conferences and events, such as for a keynote speaker, panel discussion or fireside chat. The graphic recorder creates an illustration that acts as a visual record of the session. It captures a moment in time.

Graphic facilitation is well-suited for situations when a group desires to become unified in a problem-solving context. For example, I worked with an organization that was struggling with their customer engagement model and needed to move from reactive to proactive. Graphic facilitation helped the key stakeholders to create a new vision, identify the implications to the business model and organization, and support communication and implementation for the change. Another example is for a start-up company that grew quickly, and though profitable, could not keep up with the pace of their own change. Graphic facilitation helped the team through a series of conversations which allowed them to see where they wanted to go, why and how they would get there.

Graphic Recording In Action — A Behind the Scene Look

What does graphic recording look like? Sarah created a 12 foot by 8 foot hand-drawn masterpiece for StraightTalk based on a one-hour webinar on Leveraging Business Architecture to Translate Strategy Into Action (guest access available for you to listen). Here are the results – and a handy visual of how business architecture enables strategy execution at the same time. Bonus. This artwork was the result of a collaborative engagement between Sarah Greer and our own Christopher Wray (Communiqué Marketing Solutions LLC). The final product, available here for download, is a digitized vector art conversion of Sarah’s original hand-drawn illustration.

---

 

Here is a glimpse behind the scenes with Sarah in action creating the original large-scale artwork.

 

Why are graphic recording and graphic facilitation important for business architecture teams to leverage?

Michael: The truth is our models are not getting us where we want to go. At one point I realized that the models were just not communicating with the business and we needed to find something better. We needed something that was more like an “architect’s sketch of a house with a little bit of watercolor on it” that we use early on with the business to drive the vision of what we want to build, which eventually evolves into blueprints.

How can business architecture teams use graphic recording and facilitation?

Michael: Graphics are really an advanced form of communication. They are better than words. I use these techniques in four ways:

1. Graphic Recording – I’ve found that graphic recording actually changes the way people in the room converse with each other. It causes them to realize that what they say could be represented graphically so they begin using word pictures.
2. Co-Creation – When you get good enough at graphics, you can help people co-create solutions that they would have a hard time expressing otherwise.
3. Graphic Facilitation – This method uses carefully planned exercises coupled with one or more well-designed “canvas” that help move a group towards their goal. As an active participant, you can get information out of peoples’ minds and in front of the group so that they can think about it as a whole.
4. Animation – This is putting the graphics in an animated form so that people can see the parts of the picture come together. This allows them to gain a fresh understanding of the nature of the problem and arrive at new conclusions.

Can you give an example?

Michael: There are many examples of how I’ve used these techniques, but here’s one of my favorites. It’s from a quick service restaurant chain.

• The Situation: I was working closely with the strategy team and we needed a way to get the strategy down through execution in a seamless and painless fashion.
• What We Did: We decided to keep the business (and IT) architecture detail behind the scenes and insert a set of graphical models between the architecture and the business people. The graphic models did not look like technology, but were tied to all of the business and IT architecture models underneath. We scheduled some meetings with the business leaders and captured (graphically of course) various “vignettes” that described the challenges and what the future of the business should look like. Then we went into the strategy management process and put all of those vignettes up on the wall for feedback. It allowed the group to go through a deep thinking process using pictures, versus detailed documents which nobody had time to read.
• The Results: We compiled the vignettes and published a hardback, professionally bound, full color playbook for the future, which was used at the final strategy meeting. The pages were glossy, the lines were straight and the hand-drawn graphics had been converted to professionally designed graphics. It was so powerful that the CEO stood up at the end of the meeting and said “We have got to control every copy of this [playbook] because it would be like handing candy to our competition.” This practice continues at the company to this day.

Show and Tell: Using Graphical Techniques for Business Architecture

Here are a few examples from Michael’s portfolio, showing how he’s leveraged these graphical techniques for strategy sessions and the strategy management process (the playbook he referred to in his example).

Would the outcome have been different without these techniques?

Michael: I have a lot of experience doing business architecture and I’ve tried everything, so I can tell you exactly what would happen. We publish these models that few people want to look at, and those who do for the most part do not understand them. Therefore, those models are relegated to a place where they are never seen.

With full respect to the architecture discipline, the business does not understand or appreciate our models and there’s no way to make them – we have to meet them where they are at and that is what these graphics do. If we hadn’t used these techniques, the organization I described earlier would be nowhere near where they are as a restaurant company. They are where they are because we gave them that view of their future.

Can an architect learn to do this?

Michael: If you are reading this, you already have what it takes to do this. I’m mostly self-taught and I’m pretty much willing to learn anything that anyone is willing to teach me. I’ve worked with some great artists and learned everything I could from them. There are plenty of people out there who can help you.

Where do we start?

Sarah: Just get started.  Practice lettering on a wall or a flipchart. The important thing is to get comfortable, so like anything else, the more you practice the more it will just become second nature.

There are many, many books on the subject of graphic recording and graphic facilitation. My top three picks: The Graphic Facilitator’s Guide, Visual Meetings, and Gamestorming. There are also many practitioners, like myself, that can host workshops and teach the basics. It’s great fun – and can double as a terrific team-building exercise.

Michael: I’ve learned from Sunni Brown, who is a constant inspiration to me and I’m part of The Doodle Revolution. I learned from Nancy Duarte and her book Resonate. I think if I could go around again in this life, I’d come back as Nancy Duarte. I have every book by David Sibbet, who is a certifiable genius in this area, and I use his material constantly. Milly Sonneman and her Beyond Words book inspired me early on when I thought there was just no way I could do this. I also e-mailed a lot of professionals and asked them how they created some of their pieces. The people in this community are so open and willing to share.

It takes very little for you to begin to learn how to draw. Start with your own notebook and have a goal to replace 10% of your words with graphics. Then work up to 20%. Then pick a meeting and go up to the whiteboard and start drawing what you hear in the room.

In Closing…

Sarah: Having been doing this for quite some time, I am always so pleasantly surprised in how people reach and are astonished at the simple act of drawing out their thinking. It is remarkable to see people making connections because they have line of sight in one room to all the content that was created in a day. And I never get tired of hearing “I never thought we’d get so much done in one day.”

Michael: There was a time when we all doodled and drew pictures – and we wanted them on the board at school and our refrigerators at home. That worked fine until one day perhaps a teacher found you doodling and told you to stop drawing pictures and get to work. Maybe you put aside that skill for whatever reason. But it’s there and you can pick it up and start again. The hardest thing to overcome is your own internal critic. But go out there and get to work. You have this ability and these graphics appeal to you for a reason, and that’s because you think this way. Everybody can do this and I encourage you to start tomorrow.

More Good Stuff…

5-Minutes with Sarah Greer: How Business Architecture Practices Can Leverage Graphic Recording and Facilitation For Greater Success–Part 1 (StraightTalk podcast): Sarah’s podcast is a must-listen for a chance to learn the what’s and why’s of graphic recording and graphic facilitation from a true master.

15-Minutes with Michael Pemberton: How Business Architecture Teams Can Leverage Graphic Recording and Facilitation for Greater Success – Part 2 (StraightTalk podcast): Don’t miss Michael’s brilliant podcast, in which you will hear real success stories of how he’s used graphic recording and graphic facilitation as part of his architecture practice.

The Graphic Facilitator’s Guide: How to use your listening, thinking and drawing skills to make meaning (book by Brandy Agerbeck): Learn guiding principles to listen deeply, think critically and draw swiftly to make great work happen.

Visual Meetings: How Graphics, Sticky Notes and Idea Mapping Can Transform Group Productivity (book by David Sibbet): This book explains how anyone can implement powerful visual tools and gives you a slew of exciting tricks and tools to leverage.

Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers (book by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown and James Macanufo): A fantastic resource with more than 80 games to help you break down barriers, communicate better, and generate new ideas, insights, and strategies.

• Also check out the online Gamestorming Toolkit. Score!

The Doodle Revolution: Unlock the Power to Think Differently (book by Sunni Brown): A fearless guide to awakening your mind using simple visual language.

• Also check out the Visual Summary of the book. It’s an infodoodle on a book about infodoodles.  Whoa, that is meta.

Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences (book by Nancy Duarte): How to make a strong connection with your audience and lead them to purposeful action – and convey content with passion, persuasion and impact.

The Blog (Nancy Duarte): Amazing resources and blog from Nancy Duarte.

Beyond Words: A Guide to Drawing Out Ideas (book by Milly R. Sonneman): This colorful, offbeat business guide shows how to add zip, interaction, and excitement to just about any kind of meeting or presentation. Even if you can’t draw a straight line, this book will have you doodling away like a pro in no time flat.

The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures (book by Dan Roam): How to clarify any problem or sell any idea using a simple set of tools. Drawing on a humble napkin can be more powerful than the slickest PowerPoint presentation.

Shape Your Thinking (TED Talk): An excellent (and visual) TED Talk by Brandy Agerbeck who reshapes our thinking about drawing.

Doodlers, unite! (TED Talk): A light TED Talk by Sunni Brown that makes the case for unlocking your brain via pad and pen.