Over the years I (Sonja) have been part of many sales pitches, both successful and unsuccessful. In this post I want to share a couple of thoughts on some of the do's and don'ts of selling projects of this nature. I would also be really interested to hear from you and want to encourage you to share some of your own learnings by commenting on this entry.
One of the key learnings I've taken from the unsuccesful pitches I've been a part of is not to try to sell the approach or methodology. Often when people are introduced to a new and exciting concept like Cognitive Edge, their first inclination is to evangelise as many people as possible and try to sell it into the business (or to a client) as soon as they can. I fell into this trap myself - after hearing Dave for the first time, I tried to put a 'complexity' spin onto everything - desperate to sell my first project. Problem was, I haven't had time to really get to grips with the thinking and make it my own, so I was using Dave's terminology (that I didn't quite understand myself), hoping that no-one would ask me to explain 'epistemology' in detail! This approach mostly met with blank stares and no sales!
Since then I've learned to find a specific business need (preferably a burning platform) and place the emphasis on that. Most of the people that we are selling to don't really care about the underlying philosophy of the approach, they just want to know that it'll solve their problem. I've had even more success in cases where they'd already tried several other approaches with limited success!
In cases where I had to discuss the fundamentals of Complexity and Narrative, I've made sure to use my own examples and language that resonates with executives. In fact, one of my biggest challenges have been to 'translate' these complex ideas into a format that is familiar enough for them to buy into it, while still retaining a sense of novelty.
I also make sure that I take a printed set of archetypes with me to every meeting, as I've found that the cartoons are great tools to use to facilitate dialogue - especially if the discussion is around culture. I've found that archetype cartoons always seem to resonate, even if they emerged from an organisation in a completely different industry.
We'll be hosting a CE network event on the 2nd of October in Johannesburg to discuss this in more depth and share some ideas with other pratitioners. If you're based in SA, feel free to join us! You can send me an email on sonja@narrativelab.co.za if you're interested.
Comments (5)
Sonja
Loving your blog and agreeing with so many of your insights.
I too had a lot of bad experiences where I started using too much complexity-speak until the last couple of weeks where I dropped it all and began reflecting on the similarity between unexpected order in outcomes, to that of Adam Smith the 1700s economist and his 'invisible hand controlling the economy'. I suddenly found that people were getting it and referring back to me about the invisible hand building community spirit or a shared understanding.
I also find that good old fashioned 'storytelling techniques' works with everyone but 'narrative complexity' doesn't always press the button.
Cheers, Ron
Posted by Ron Donaldson | September 26, 2007 8:09 PM
Posted on September 26, 2007 20:09
Good day
This is an interesting topic, and I think one of the major challenges for myself as well. It will be interesting if you could share some of the specific business needs or burning platforms that were receptive for this approach.
Regards,
Elmi Bester
Posted by Elmi Bester | September 27, 2007 4:59 PM
Posted on September 27, 2007 16:59
Hi Elmi,
Some of the 'burning platforms' where we've found some traction are:
- knowledge/skills transfer and creating a culture of knowledge sharing
- general culture issues in organisations
- change management in mergers & acquisitions
- health & safety
- diversity and employee retention
- ethics
I'm sure there are many others, but in the South African context these are the ones that come up most often. I'd be interested to know if practitioners in other parts of the world have had similar experiences.
Posted by Sonja Blignaut | September 27, 2007 5:31 PM
Posted on September 27, 2007 17:31
Hi Ron, I'm glad you're enjoying the blog, especially since you're one of the CE pioneers! I remember seeing your English Nature case study on the accreditation training I attended many years ago.
I must admit I haven't heard of the 'invisible hand' yet - it sounds interesting, will definately Google it!
I also find that people are more familiar with Storytelling, as opposed to Narrative. There does seem to be a bit of a negative connotation to it in SA though - they tend to confuse us with the corporate storytelling movement that gained popularity a while ago. So we've found narrative a bit safer, even if it does require a bit of explanation.
Posted by Sonja Blignaut | September 27, 2007 5:41 PM
Posted on September 27, 2007 17:41
The most useful tool I've used to sell complexity based engagements is the Cynefin framework. I find that once I explain the four domains (and sometimes the fifth) executives get why you would want to do things using narrative, create small interventions and experiment.
Posted by Shawn Callahan | September 30, 2007 11:31 PM
Posted on September 30, 2007 23:31