Storytelling to Communicate Data Insights

Source: Pixabay

Companies are investing a great deal of time and money into data analysis to drive better decision making. Yet, data analysts sometimes find themselves frustrated by their inability to persuade others with regard to a particular conclusion. The bottom line is that we can say that we are fact-based or evidence-based decision makers, but we don't always respond to arguments rooted in data alone. Stories tend to be much more compelling than numbers, statistics, and bullet points. Nancy Duarte makes this point in a short post for Sloan Management Review. She writes:

If it’s your role to communicate data insights and persuade people to change their behavior, you’ll have more influence and promote better decision-making if you emphasize the people behind the numbers. In a story, we root for the hero as he or she maneuvers through roadblocks. To use data to steer your organization in the right direction, you need to tap into the human tale your data can tell.

Duarte argues that four storytelling techniques can be quite effective: 

1. Identify the Hero - Whose actions produce the data being analyzed? Who has the power to improve the situation?
2. Empathize with the Heroes - Speak with them directly. Try to stand in their shoes and understand their point of view.
3. Identify the Adversary - What is the source of conflict in this story? Who or what is standing in the way of our hero?
4. Share Context - Provide the bigger picture.  Put the current data in the context of a lengthier timeline of events.  

Why Data Analytics Professionals Need to be Good Storytellers

Kellogg Insights has a good article this week, in which they feature comments from various executives about hiring data analytics professionals. It's a hot field, making it a tough fight for great talent. Still, companies have to find the right talent. That means more than hiring folks who can crunch the numbers. Leslie Hampel, Director of Global Strategies at Starbucks, explains: 

What I am looking for is someone who can bridge the gap. Can you do the math? That’s important, but can you pull the story out of the math? Particularly for the next 10 years or so, as we work our way through this current generation of CEOs who don’t understand algorithms for the most part. They are making decisions from a very different place. How do you show them that you have applied the analytic rigor, then help tell the story so that they feel comfortable investing millions, if not billions, of dollars in this idea? It really becomes about storytelling. 

I concur wholeheartedly.  When I was a graduate student, I taught introductory economics at Harvard.   I also participated in the interviewing and training process for new teaching fellows in this course.  Plenty of talented doctoral students in economics applied for these positions.  Some of them could not tell a story though. They could draw the graphs and write the equations on the board, but they could not explain the intuition and the logic in a way that others could understand easily.   The same logic applies with data analytics professionals.  They have to be able to persuade others, some of whom are not able to digest the math easily.   Telling a story with the numbers is crucial.  

Using Stories to Persuade

Pixar Storytelling Rules: One Rule Could Help You Make Better Decisions?

I found this terrific list of Pixar storytelling rules the other day.  I encourage all my readers to take a look.  The lessons apply to all storytelling, not just the development of animated movies.  Since great leaders tell stories to communicate key messages, the rules are a must-read for business executives. 

I'm particularly interested in Rule #9: When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.

Think of a tough decision you have had to make recently, one characterized by high stakes and a great deal of ambiguity.   Were you stuck at some point, unsure of how to proceed?  If so, you might try applying this rule.  Make a list of the options you would clearly NOT pursue.  Ask yourself why.   Developing the options that are clearly not plausible or attractive may help you generate alternatives that do make sense.