Storytelling Revisited

There is something called a Frequency Illusion defined by Stanford Professor Arnold Zwicky which for some random reason over the years I have coined “green car syndrome” meaning you don’t see many green cars on the road, but when you do happen to see one suddenly you start seeing multiple cars that are green and think they are becoming more popular.

Zwicky explains it being down to two mechanisms working together. Selective attention i.e once something becomes of interest to you, your brain starts flagging it and confirmation bias i.e each new sighting feels like evidence that green cars really have multiplied. 

Why do I share this? Well this may work for “normal” life but it doesn’t necessarily work for the digital world as if the underlying algorithm has decided you like green cars it will keep serving you green cars and you are forced to notice them.

As I have just launched my new business Qualeris Ltd , the algorithm on Youtube is serving me various videos on permanent capital and compounding.  One of them was an interview with Henry Kravis the co-founder and co-CEO of the very successful private equity company KKR.  Interestingly, in the interview he shared that if he had his time again he would follow exactly the business model I am planning for Qualeris which was nice confirmation bias fuel! 

But that is not why I am sharing this.

After watching, the algorithm kept serving me Henry Kravis interview videos this week  and I became fascinated with a skill he had that I think is one of the reasons he has built such a successful company. 

I have written previously about the power of story telling and that the Leaders job is to be a CRO – A Chief Reminding Officer.  Henry Kravis is an absolute expert at it!

As an example, the recent interview was followed by an interview he gave in 1991. I noticed his personal story and the company founding story were not just the same themes they were almost word for word exactly the same in both interviews – thirty five years apart! 

Now you might say a man of his means can be media trained, and that may be true but I think it’s a skill that is either innate or he has developed and by being so consistent and repetitive I am sure it is authentic and has been a key part of developing the culture and success at KKR.

With story telling being so important.  When did you last tell someone how your business started? And if I could play you the version you told five years ago, would you recognise it?  Do you do this routinely at new team member inductions and at fireside chats promoting the company? Watching these video's certainly got me thinking about how I deliver the Qualeris story and what do I want repeated back to me in 2061 by someone who works here?

My personal philosophy is the only two things that really drive a successful business are the quality of the people and the experience of the customer and I think an impactful consistent story feeds both.

As a CRO (a chief reminding officer) I am a great believer that you have to keep saying the same message multiple times way beyond the number you think may be boring for it to really sink in.  When it does, a story told the same way every time is the one your team can repeat when you're not in the room. This then helps define your behaviours, your culture and your brand.