Understanding A Company’s Narrative

We have talked about why it is important to understand the story the business is telling about itself, so we can help our teams advance that narrative. So how do we unpack this narrative?

Usually the stories the business is telling itself and telling others about itself are not laid out in one convenient place. We’ll have to go find them, and figure out what they are. Fortunately there is a great place to start: the company mission statement.

A company’s mission statement is key to understanding its self-narrative. A good mission statement gives us the overarching plot. It doesn’t tell us who the characters are, or how they’ll achieve their goals in detail or even how the story ends. But it tells us what the story is about.

Let’s consider this (fictitious) mission statement for a company that makes area rugs and sells them online to customers:

“We make attractive, affordable, durable, slip-free area rugs and deliver them to customers’ homes within 3 days.”

What does this statement tell us? There are several key words at play that give us a lot of information:

• Attractive: We know that they have to be presented to the customer in a way that allows them to appreciate the rug’s design. This means that however a customer comes to the company (via web site, mobile app, in person at a store, etc.), they have to have a smooth, engaging experience that makes the company’s rugs look as appealing as possible.
  

• Affordable: We know that the business is concerned with maintaining a competitive price point, perhaps undercutting competitors. This implies a need for analysis of the competitive landscape, as well as a solid understanding of both the costs of producing and shipping the rugs.
  

• Durable: We know that the company cares about ensuring the rugs are long-lasting and don’t wear out quickly. This has implications for materials sourcing and selection, and the overall manufacturing process.
  

• Slip-free: We know that the company cares about the safety of its customers, and wants to ensure that the rugs they are buying do not pose a slipping hazard (or presumably any other safety hazard).
  

• Deliver… within 3 days: Ahh, yes, an SLA with the customer, something that is familiar to every technology professional. Many things have to happen in order for the customer to get their rug within the promised time. And of course there are going to be things that have to happen if and when the customer doesn’t get their rug in the promised three days.
  

While this is a fictitious business, the parallels to e-commerce, commodities trading, the marketing and delivery of natural gas or electricity, and many other industries are clear. Many organizations have concerns about effective marketing to customers, cost control, efficient and high-quality manufacturing, safety, and physical delivery of goods and services.

At this point we’ve derived a pretty detailed narrative about the company’s goals from the mission statement. Now we need to see how the story that the company is telling about itself matches up against reality.

[Up Next: Making sure you understand the mission (statement)]