202 – Efficiency versus cost cutting
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Reducing waste increases the efficiency of raw material use. But can we all agree that scraping mould off food product prior to packaging may be a little ‘beyond the pale’?
Shawn and Mark discuss the relevance of this story to: understanding the difference between efficiency and cost cutting, short ‘single point’ storytelling, the retelling factor in stories with disgust, and the importance of avoiding abstraction in your stories.
Links and References:
- Shawn Callahan on LinkedIn
- Mark Schenk on LinkedIn
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Photo by Christine Van on Unsplash
For your story bank
Tags: efficiency, cost cutting, short story, disgust, abstraction, communication
This story starts at 01:04 and ends at 03:32
A food company CEO delivers a speech on the importance of efficiency beyond mere cost-cutting. The CEO shares a memorable lesson from the noodle business, recounting an incident involving mouldy noodles that were scraped off and sent to the market – a cringe-worthy detail that doesn’t compromise health.
Story and episode notes:
Abstraction and interpretation are key difficulties when conveying corporate objectives, but a horribly visual analogy (engendering disgust) can be almost unforgettable – also improving the chances of stories being retold.
This is a short, single point story told by the CEO as observer. Short stories are much more easily remembered. Body language can enhance storytelling effectiveness, but don’t overdramatise or make up ‘facts’ as this may destroy credibility.
Anecdote International is a global training and consulting company, specialising in utilising storytelling to bring humanity back to the workforce. Anecdote is now unique in having a global network of over 60 partners in 28 countries, with their learning programs translated into 11 languages, and customers who incorporate these programs into their leadership and sales enablement activities.