Quite a few years ago, a young man with degrees in law and psychology from Sydney University and a postgraduate law degree from Oxford discovered he wasn't really interested in practising in the legal profession after all. He eventually joined the World Bank in New York.

As he climbed his way up the ladder, Steve Denning saw himself as the quintessential analytical manager, whose method of operating was sharp and clear.

But his life changed when he reached a career hiatus in 1996.

``I went to see top management and asked it if it had anything in mind for me. It said, `Why don't you look at information.' It felt like I was being sent to Siberia.''

``But I looked at information and saw we were drowning in it and needed to clean it up.''

It then dawned on Denning that there was a real need to share the extensive knowledge collected by the bank in crucial areas such as agriculture and economics with the developing world.

So he began to talk to his colleagues about becoming a knowledge-sharing organisation, well before the term became commonplace.

Needless to say, the message was not well received.

``They said, `We are a bank and a lending organisation'. So I did charts and tables, and then I stumbled on something that helped, I told stories. I said, `Just imagine if there was a health worker in a country like Zambia trying to find out about typhoid. The World Bank isn't in that picture, but
just imagine if we got organised to share our knowledge', and that started to resonate.'' The storytelling worked so well, the bank soon announced it would become the knowledge bank.

Over a period of three or four years, Denning found the technique had managed to ignite interest from a range of groups at the World Bank in the concept of knowledge management.

Denning, who was program director of knowledge management at the World Bank between 1996 and 2000, then used his experience to write a book about the process called Springboard, which outlines the basic steps he uses.

``There was a particular pattern to my storytelling. And now I provide coaching in how to use stories that can spark a new idea in people.'' One of the biggest challenges for managers, he says, was to communicate with their staff, particularly when the messages were about tough measures, changes or the reinforcement of values. Corporate mission statements or values written
on cards were not the answer....

``I am typically called into a room of stony-faced people. I tell them to look at the morning newspaper and see the impact of storytelling. Then I show them a simple pattern for storytelling.''

Usually, Denning says, there is a single protagonist in the story that is prototypical of the audience, which will then identify with that figure and the protagonist's experiences will resonate with the audience.

The story needs to be strange but plausible, about something that actually happened.

By comparison, most corporate communication paints a rosy picture of something that's just around the corner, which is not compelling. 

That's why, Denning says, if you want to understand why trust levels are so low in corporations, just look at the communication. And finally, the story should be told in a minimalist fashion.

``The whole point of this type of storytelling is to get the listener to think of their own story. What triggers the change process is for them to think they can apply it to their own situation. They are starting to craft their own story.''

Corporate storytelling is a flourishing area, as people realise the potential and there is more recognition of the paucity of much corporate communication.

``Organisations realise they have a problem and that nothing else works,'' Denning says....,

There's actually a reason most of us find lists of data and charts so hard to absorb.

``What is emerging is that people actually think in narrative,'' Denning says.

``How they make decisions is that if you give them abstract material, they will translate it into a narrative anyway.''

... Although based in Washington, Denning gets to Australia regularly and says interest in these techniques is growing. He works with companies like GE and Shell internationally, and has made some presentations here.

And he's working on another book which looks at the seven highest value forms of organisational storytelling.

Publication: Australian Financial Review Publication date: 18-2-03 Page no: 59