Sitting at his desk at 6 pm, Bill struggles to finalize a pitch to the senior leadership team tomorrow. Reviewing the consumer data again, he feels confident that his team has developed a winning product concept. But how is he going to convince the skeptics to invest in this bold new idea? Pacing his office, he distractedly flips on the radio. “Great, just what I need, traffic gridlock! And I promised Julie I’d pick up a few things for dinner,” he shakes his head. Switching channels, he’s drawn into a story and becomes mesmerized. When he comes back to his pitch — it hits him! He doesn’t need more facts; he needs a story. The stories are jumping out at him from the consumer data, but he’s been blinded by the statistics. He restructures his deck, starting with a story, links it to the product idea, and puts most of the data in back-up. Driving home satisfied, he greets Julie with salad, bread, and smile on his face. His instinct was spot on … leadership became excited about the product, and he got the green light to move it forward.
