Every organization requires a story to match

I believe every organization should spend time regularly working on their story.

There's no denying that I have a biased opinion given my line of work. But this is what I believe. Just about every organization should spend time regularly reviewing and testing and updating their story.

That is, their messaging platform.

In Nymblesmith parlance, The Sheet.

Because things change.

Your offering evolves. Your products change or sometimes get updated or replaced. Your services morph. Your staff shifts. 

Things in the world change every day. What's news today is old news tomorrow.

So to think the story you tell your customers about why you're valuable to them never shifts, ever, is of limited vision.

I also believe, that no matter how much you think that only the people in your organization understand everything you do and how you do it. The truth is, almost every organization would benefit from having an outside storyteller work with them on getting their story straight.

And clear.

And compelling.

Because that's what we do. All day. Every day.

I say "almost every" to recognize the short list of very few organizations I've seen who seem to have it all together.

But please, please, please realize that those organizations just seem to have it all together automatically. With no effort.

I also believe that if you were to scratch the surface just a little bit, you'd see that they do the hard work of messaging regularly, if not every day, and that is the reason everything seems so together all the time.

Beware becoming that leader who thinks this stuff happens automatically or by virtue of personalities, or just because you hired the right people. You hired the right people AND they do the work every day. Often without anyone paying attention to it. And that is why it seems to just always work properly.

Someone asked me recently who my best clients were, the good writers or the bad writers.

I thought about it for a few moments and responded that my best clients are without a doubt the best writers. But there was more to it than just that. 

There are so many people in the world who think that because they can put a noun and a verb together, that they can write well.

On the other hand, there are as many people who disparage their own writing abilities who are much better writers than they think they are. Some of them are excellent writers and have no idea.

This second group is the better bunch to work with.

They ask questions.

They look for ways to be better.

They collaborate enthusiastically.

The people who think writing or storytelling is easy - or natural - are the dangerous ones.

I often say clever is the enemy of clarity.

And this applies here.

You like being clever. You may love clever. But not everybody understands clever the same way you do. And when that happens, they don't understand what you are saying.

Not one bit.

They skip over what you've put together and look to someone else.

There's a difference between clever and clear. Confident and cocky. Knowlegeable and know-it-all.

Never rest on your laurels.

Make the message matter.

Every day.

###