You’re the boss.  You’ve made it to the big time.  You’ve worked extremely hard to get here.  On a day-to-day basis everything is moving along okay but economic uncertainty has you and everyone around you worried.  There have been a few sleepless nights.  Come to think of it, there have been several actually.

Experts talk about a second wave.  You wonder if people are overreacting, or if there is some credence to what they say.  People shrug it off, assuming that it won’t affect them.  While they assure you that everything will be okay the look in their faces tells you otherwise.  There’s worry there.  Just like there is with you.  You talk positively to the troops because you know how important it is for them to see you happy.  They rely on you to keep them that way.  You do your best.

You wake up in the middle of the night experiencing a range of emotions.  You’re upset.  In fact, if you’re brutally honest with yourself, you’re actually kind of scared.  Days pass and nothing really changes.  You have lots of experienced, senior people supporting you, lots of knowledge, but you can’t seem to execute change.  You look at the financials.  They’re the same financials they were when you last looked at them, a day earlier, and they don’t look great.  You talk to your team again – still, no solutions.  Weeks pass and nothing changes, except maybe oil prices.

A big fan of marine life, you pick up a magazine you’ve ordered to escape for a moment.  You read the feature story about a sick octopus living at a marine park.  The doctor in charge describes how this normally active octopus hadn’t moved in weeks.  He also describes how he solved the problem.  He talks about the poking and prodding he did during his clinical exam, and how the octopus did everything in its power to elude him, including spraying ink all over the place, which is what octopi do when they feel threatened.  Octopi are great at hiding too, which is exactly what this octopus did, the task made easier by the fact skeletons aren’t an issue with octopus.  Aware that the octopus is one of the most intelligent of all invertebrates, the doctor describes how he spent the better part of a day searching for him.  He goes on to explain how after finally finding this little eight-legged creature, he restrains it long enough to examine everything from its eyes and its beak, its four pairs of legs, and its mantle.  He talks about being fortunate enough to conduct a blood test, x-rays, Cat scans and Pet scans (no pun intended) before placing it back in the tank for good.

The octopus doctor emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive review on this creature.  It hits you.  Of course it’s a comprehensive review.  Test only its four pairs of legs and risk missing the problem.  You think about applying this approach to your business.  You get a rush of adrenalin, realizing you’re on to something.  By the way, the octopus is okay.

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The reason I’m telling these stories is to emphasize the importance of a comprehensive approach to business problem solving.  I first noticed the value of this when I started writing stories for businesses.  In order to write the story, I would talk to people at all levels of the organization.  I’d start with the President and CEO, move to senior managers from various disciplines and then round out the story-building process by talking to tactical people, those on the front line.  I’d talk to people about all aspects of the business.

I found this fascinating because I was able to see how each part of the organization functioned both as a silo, and as part of the larger organization, and how the organization functioned with other organizations.  I started to recognize structural and procedural problems.  I saw communication breakdowns and barriers to the implementation of organizational goals.  It’s not like people intentionally stood in the way of progress.  They just did.

The story building process changed all that.  After conducting our interviews, alongside other experts from OZZ, we shared our findings with leadership.  We talked about the problems and what it would take to achieve buy-in & change agreement, resource & brand clarity, and better policies, products, and services.  We set out these findings in an alignment plan along with potential solutions (called an OZZ media map).

The alignment plan also identified how the organization’s goals would be integrated into stories.  Because people were connected to a story they were eager to volunteer information during the interview process.  Unlike conventional approaches to corporate improvement, the story connects with people on a deep, emotional level.  It’s just that much easier for people to get excited about the company they work for when a story is being told.  It’s quite incredible to see actually, the transformation in people’s body language, attitude and outlook as we work together.

Once the story is laid out in the alignment plan, complete with solutions to business problems, the story production and distribution stage begins.  Professional filmmakers, writers and musicians collaborate to transform the story into an entertaining electronic media package.  The story is released to the public providing an opportunity for input regarding whether the organization is on target or not.  The project, which ultimately has a beginning and an end, produces the mandate companies seek along with a measurable understanding of how effective its strategic goals are, both inside and outside the organization.

Despite strong leadership, organizations sometimes don’t work as well as they should – like the one above – because people become misaligned with company’s mandate.  An aligned organization on the other hand has a clear mandate to increase revenues and reduce risk, which is something all organizations seek in one form or another.

Alignment comes from collaboration.  Collaboration occurs by leveraging the power of a story.  The moral of these stories can be summarized in two sentences.  If you want your octopus to be aligned, think comprehensively and hope it doesn’t freak out too much while your doing your tests.  If you want your organization to be aligned, think comprehensively and tell a good story.

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John Pineau, MCP is the CEO & Founder of OZZ media corp & the OZZ media network

We bring Collective Genius™ to the world.

www.OZZmediacorp.com