* How we work
We find the story that's there, then we make it travel.
First
We find the story
We work with African businesses and organisations, mostly established ones, to find their story and build from it. We name a business' positioning story, the evolutionary logic underneath everything it does, and set out the evidence: where it held while everything around it changed, and where it quietly moved.
A brand book or a strategy should have been built from this material, however rarely is. We gather all relevant material into your StoryBank, and from this repository we create a range of communication assets.
Usually something forces this request:
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the induction of new employees or the onboarding of executives
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a work culture in need of a reset or transformation
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an investor who needs convincing
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a planned succession
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a leadership change
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a milestone event
Then
We make it travel
Naming the positioning story, and with it the future vision, is half of the work. The other half is getting it to travel.
We work with senior and middle management, so they can carry the strategy, via stories, themselves. That means getting clear on their own story as leaders, distilling it into messages they can say plainly, and learning to tell it so a room remembers. Some of it is one to one. Other times it's the whole leadership team together, either drawing the story out or settling on how to tell it.
The story only works once the people running the business can speak it without reaching for the pitch deck, scrambling for the strategy document or glancing at the values on the walls.
Tell stories of how people came through for others who were depending on them. Give examples of how a specific employee made a difference in the life of a customer. Never miss an opportunity to heighten the sense of noble purpose that people at all levels can (and have a right to) feel about their work.
Jim Collins
Author of Good to Great and Built to Last
BE 2.0
* What to expect
The practical questions
Who we interview
The founders where we can reach them, the people who run the business now, and long-serving staff who remember how the big decisions were made. A typical engagement involves up to six people.
How long it takes
A StoryBank usually takes 1 to 3 months and a Brief 4-6 weeks. Most of the time goes on reaching the people we need to interview, so the number of interviews and how quickly people are available decide the timeline. You get a firmer estimate once we’ve agreed the scope.
What you receive
Your StoryBank, and assets that are later drawn from it, or a Brief on a single, more focused, question. You review drafts at agreed points along the way, so you shape the final version as it develops. A StoryBank can be added to as the company changes, for example once a year.
Time asked of your people
Each interview takes 1-3 hours, sometimes with a shorter follow-up to check details. We schedule around people’s diaries, and where meeting is difficult we can send questions in writing. If someone who holds essential knowledge can’t be reached, we’ll discuss with you whether to pause the work or change its scope.
Confidentiality
Every engagement is covered by a non-disclosure agreement. Interview recordings and transcripts stay confidential for the duration of our contract and are handed to you upon its completion. You decide what goes into your StoryBank and who sees it.
Working with your leaders
Corporate history documents what happened. Brand storytelling positions you for marketing. StoryBanking extracts strategic intelligence from your narratives - the decision-making patterns, institutional knowledge, values and beliefs embedded in your business story. The output isn't decorative. It's usable within your organisation.
A business past five years old is carrying a history no one has written down, and the longer it stays unwritten, the more of it walks out the door with the people who hold it.
Don’t wait too long. If yours is a young company, you may be wondering if such a history makes sense. We agree that it’s awkward to write a history of something that’s only a year old. However, by the time the company is five years old, you should be drafting a short corporate history.
Jim Collins
Author of Good to Great and Built to Last
BE 2.0