building culture through storytelling - baba prasad (the wharton school)

NASSCOM Storytelling

Building Culture through StorytellingNASSCOM Product ConclaveBangalore, Oct 14, 2015Baba Prasad (Ph.D., The Wharton School)Vivkin Group1

2013, Vivkin Group. Confidential

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Two Broad Themes Why stories help build culture

How to use storytelling to build culture2


Every Entrepreneur Must Have a Story What Stories Do Create root identitiesDisplay and help share mission & valuesDevelop your brand The Finnish people developed the Kalevala, their national epicWhat is your Kalevala?3


I will use the Vivkin story to illustrate 3

The Vivkin Story The late 1990sTurbulent Business Environment Wharton Purdue Minnesota Resilience? Adaptability? How do we build agile and resilient organizations?

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2 Paradigms for Agility5


Bear & Hikers6


Broken Cup7


Search for a new approach to strategy

The Human Dimension8


The Bering Strait Crossing9


Clovis People: First Humans in North America10


Woolly Mammoths, Giant Bisons &Saber-Toothed Tigers11


The Secret: Human IntelligenceThe ability to

adapt to an environment reshape an environment or choose a new environmentand the meta-capability of choosing the most appropriate of these three options given a context

12Porter's PositioningResources & Core competenceBlue Ocean


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13VISIONARY INTELLIGENCERecognize long-term and ethical implications of decisions; go beyond parochial self-interest & expedienceINVENTIVE INTELLIGENCECreate new solutions & products; solve problems not seen before; root of imagination, vision & inspirationCOMMUNICATIVE INTELLIGENCEPersuade; motivate; convince others of the value of ideas through words & speechOPERATIONAL INTELLIGENCEEfficiently transform ideas into action; implementation-oriented; leadership by exampleANALYTICAL INTELLIGENCEIdentify solutions that have worked in the past; monitor performance; root of learning

Vivkin Intelligences Framework


Intelligences in Action: River Blindness1987Roy Vagelos, CEO of MerckRiver Blindness in AfricaMiracle cureCost to commercialize the drug $2MCost to produce and distribute the drug $20M/yearProblem?People who needed the drug could not pay for it!

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Vageloss SolutionFunding from GovernmentAnswer: No funds!WHO makes startling suggestion: Give it away for free!How to implement that solution in a corporate setting?Use corporate history in Japan (tetramycin)Giving it free; Merck gets unique permission many years later from Japanese Government

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Culture16VIF - Metrics & MeasurementPeopleOrganization IndividualTeam

Leadership IntelligencesTMOrganizational IntelligencesTM

VIF Assessment PentagonAt the Organization level, Ethnographic methods are used to understand the soul of the company and build a culture of Strategic Agility


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I should reach here in 10 minutes. 17

The Story So Far: An illustration Origin story: Why Vivkin? (Broken Cup Story) Core story: Clovis People Application story: Merck18


What Storytelling Does Establishes identity Builds values & ethos Brands the company19


How to Use Storytelling to Build Company Culture

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Step 1. Pick the stories What is your origin/motivating story? What is your operational story? What is your application story?21


Origin story example: Vivkin storyhow does it speak to founders values? What is the impact your company wants to make on the world? (helps promote a value-driven culture)Operational story: Stories about how the company works; The Clovis story of Vivkin; the 1-rule handbook of Nordstrom (helps to inspire employees)Application story: Vagelos; Nordstrom and tires story; (helps to build brand)

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Step 2. Create a Story-Sharing Environment

Story-sharing different from story-tellingUse technology to spread stories

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Step 3. Promote the stories

Use Network EffectsSeed your stories selectively23


Computer scientists and economists call it, Network effects; VCs call it Viral Marketing; Rocket fuel for technology forms: Metcalfe O(n2); Reeds law: O(2n)23

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A sample network to show power of friends influence.24

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Conclusion Storytelling helps your company create identity share values create a brand Steps in using storytellingPick the right storiesCreate a story-sharing environmentPromote your stories

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28www.vivekingroup.com


building culture through storytelling - baba prasad (the wharton school)

Leadership & Management