Telling the story of a school with hedgehogs

This story needs little explanation.

It's simply an attempt to stand out from the crowd and tell the story of a school at a moment in time when words and pictures no longer differentiate us.

So sit back. 

Relax.

And if you like it, share it.

This is my story, what's yours?

I am not sure precisely where or when this particular story began; but, looking back, I’d say that it was just around my tenth birthday when I first stumbled upon writings of C.S. Lewis and his imagination-absorbing tales of Narnia. 

The fascination continued when, as a young theology and philosophy undergraduate, I learned of a world where Truth could no longer be reduced to a series of objective facts, but captured in the meta-narratives that define and guide our reading of the way things are.  Then, and I am really not sure why, I started reading the work of people like Stephen Denning and his ground-breaking work on storytelling and organizational change.[i]  Despite the fact that I knew nothing at the time about the world of Corporate Communications, what he had to say still had a ring of truth about it – and not just to me.  Today, more than a decade later, narrative approaches to what we do are everywhere and Denning is arguably responsible for a brand new tribe.

Now I say we, but who am I kidding?  I work in a school – with kids!  Isn’t that a world apart from the real business of Corporate Communications?  In one sense, of course, it is different.  Entirely different, unless you follow David Perkins’ line of reasoning when he says that all organizations are really only about conversations and that, notwithstanding the particular line of business we are in, effective leadership is always about helping people to have better, smarter conversations.[ii] 

And if you talk about conversations in one breath, you surely have to mention stories in the next.  After all, stories are the ‘stuff’ of most conversations and unique in their ability to bring meaning, pattern and order to the otherwise disconnected fragments of our lives.  

Not convinced?  Well just try and think of any recent, meaningful conversation, at work or in the office, in which you did not tell a story to illustrate your point, contribute an idea, raise an issue or make a connection with somebody.

In short, it’s all about stories.

In fact, these days, notwithstanding the complexity of our art, we are in the end nothing more and nothing less than a band of storytellers: Telling the story of our organization and helping other people find their place in that story.  It really is that simple.  Everything else – all our plans, budgeting, annual targets, policies, and protocols – is just white noise.

Now this does not mean, of course, that we have left our work-a-worlds and plunged into a realm of fantasy and make-believe.  On the contrary, as Michael Margolis explains, for those of us who communicate on behalf of our companies or organizations, it is high time we faced up to the fact that ‘people don’t really buy your product, solution, or idea, they buy the stories that are attached to it.’[iii] 

So what does a storytelling approach to Corporate Communications look like?  The good news is that today there are a bunch of people out there, like Margolis and Denning, redefining and bringing the narrative dimension of what we do into sharp relief.  Rather than simply tell you what they already know, I will therefore stick to what I know best: my practitioner’s tale, which turns upon three story-focused questions we happened to ask along the way, and some pointers for further discussion.

Is our story coherent at every stage along the way?

Have you ever sat down at your desk only to stumble upon a lack of coherence in the story that you were trying to tell.  It’s the moment you first notice that, despite the best laid plans and awe-inspiring publications, inconsistencies have appeared like bubbles on a freshly painted wall.   

Of course, in a school with 1500 students from 70 countries and 300 employees, inconsistencies are everywhere.  So where to start?

Our approach began by recognizing that, just as epic tales conjure up characters , each one of which may happen to be on some kind of journey, everyone connected with our organization also is journeying and could literally be mapped on a continuum between first ‘attraction’ and ‘release’ (See Figure 1).

Of course, each one of my colleagues focuses upon different aspects of this life-cycle depending upon their prescribed roles within the team.  From a storytelling point of view, however, it was critical that we came to a common understanding that it really is all part of the same process: telling the story and helping people – students, parents, donors, partners – find their place in that story. 

Having seen ourselves connected in this way, we went on to ask whether there was sufficient coherence between each of these ‘staging posts’.  Concretely, was the experience of ‘inclusion, challenge and success’ that is so much a part of our brand proposition in Stage 1 so keenly felt as students and their families journeyed through the school?   After all, it is one thing to have a story.  It is quite another to see it lived out in every aspect of who we are and what we do.

Is our story listening or even making sense?

A wise man once wrote that ‘if a story is not about the hearer he [or she] will not listen … A great lasting story is about everyone or it will not last. The strange and foreign is not interesting – only the deeply personal and familiar.’[iv]  From a storytelling point of view, the idea that a story is as much about the listener as the narrator is hardly new.  Yet it was only a few years that we all sat reading The Cluetrain Manifesto, transfixed by the suggestion that this truly was the end of business-as-usual; pondering that audacious proposal that markets are now conversations and that ‘in just a few more years, the current homogenized "voice" of business—the sound of mission statements and brochures—will seem as contrived and artificial as the language of the 18th century French court.’[v]

A little more than ten years on, sitting in our communications offices, it is all too apparent how prophetic this manifesto was.  The Internet, to say nothing of web 2.0 and social media, has changed everything – forever.  Even at school, we have become accustomed to a world of daily Google alerts and moderated Facebook or YouTube comments.  Via our website and other online platforms, we have got used to the fact that we can no longer get away with the digital equivalent of our dusty, old brochures, but instead are required to offer a space where conversations about learning take place; a dynamic environment in which people feel that their questions are pondered, opinions heard, and values, well, valued.

Personally, we are not there yet.  That said, we keep coming back to this question with two simple observations.

First, in story terms, our school website is slowly becoming as much a narrative about the organization we want to be as the organization we already are.  Again, to Margolis’ point, it is not the product (even if that ‘product’ is an education) that is driving effective conversations with our prospective customers or future employees.  No, it’s the stories behind that product – all of the values, aspirations, struggles, ideas and customer feedback – that capture the imagination and inspire people to believe that we really could become the school we desire to be.  So, rather than being narrators of a static script, everything is today far more fluid.  It’s less about giving information, more about sending out invitations to join the discussion.

Second, there is the lingering issue of losing control vs losing the plot.  As social media inevitably and relentlessly pushes us to become better listeners, have better conversations and become more flexible in relation to our ‘customers’, it is clear that sooner or later we will all have to give up the myth that we can control what people are saying about us, our companies or organizations.  They always did talk about us, in fact.  The only difference now, with the advent of Web 2.0, is that we can listen in more easily and, in some cases, measure what people are saying out there.  Even if we have lost control, however, a lot of our customers are enjoying a great deal of ‘airtime’ right now and it’s time to ask ourselves whether we are really ready to throw up our hands in despair and give ourselves up to the winds of common opinion?  Or is there another way of championing the story, holding on to the vision, and guiding people in the right direction.

Can we play with the story and is there a chance it will break?

If effective communications is all about storytelling, then it follows that there must also be an innate playfulness to our art.

This association is not new.  Alan Kelly, CEO and Founder of The Playmaker’s Standard has spent his career analyzing the communications role and come up with what he believes to be a series of essential, irreducible elements – ‘plays’ – which together make up a lexicon, a lingua franca, by which we can talk about, strategize, organize and predict the impact of the conversations we are having out there.[vi]  Communication, Kelly argues, is thus akin to a game of chess; a game with rules, strategies and, if not predictable outcomes, predictable moves. 

As we reflect upon our roles within the organization, however, it may be that predictability is not the first word that comes to mind.  We may consider ourselves playful, but more along the lines of the Shakespearean fool who pops up at key points in the narrative to simplify things, summarize, explain or simply bring a different perspective to the conversation – always looking for new ways and new opportunities to engage those around us. 

The key to change, in this sense, is innovation.  So we can never forget that ours is also the task of understanding, communicating, criticizing and reinventing the story almost on a daily basis – like a child rearranging Lego™ bricks to mirror constantly the imaginations of his or her mind. 

There is a chance, of course, that a story under such pressure of re-invention will shatter into a thousand tiny fragments.  At the same time, as C.S. Lewis once wrote, it is only by playing that we can break the story and begin to tell a truer tale.

Talking of truth, you may well ask, is any of this true?  Well, like a good communications plan or any other good story for that matter, to ask the question is to miss the point entirely.  After all, stories – even Corporate stories – are always personal and can never be reduced to matters of fact.  Are the tales of Narnia true?  Of course they are!  Like effective communication, they are sealed with a ‘ring of truth’ and spoken with an authentic voice.  In the end, even as communications ‘professionals’ that is surely as much as we can ever hope for.

This article was written for publication in Communication Director: Magazine for Corporate Communications and Public Relations.  To view the article in PDF format, click here.

---

[i] Denning, S. The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action In Knowledge-Era Organizations (Butterworth-Heinemann,2000)
[ii] Perkins, D. King Arthur's Round Table: How Collaborative Conversations Create Smart Organizations (Wiley, 2002)
[vi] Kelly, A. The Elements of Influence: Introducing The Playmaker's Standard: The New Essential System For Managing Competition, Reputation, Brand, And Buzz (Dutton Adult 2006)
[iii] Margolis, M. Believe Me: Why Your Vision, Brand, and Leadership Need A Bigger Story (Get Storied Press, 2009)
[iv] Steinbeck, J. East of Eden (Penguin Classics, 1992)
[v] Levine, R. et al. The Cluetrain Manifesto : The End Of Business As Usual (Basic Books, 2000)

Sustainable marketing for schools

For a lot of us, it is not that we are short of ideas.  It is the less glamorous question of sustainability that makes life complicated.

Let me give an example. Last Sunday, we welcomed more than 200 new families onto the ISB Campus, marking the beginning of the ISB experience for nearly 350 new students.  The event: a new family information day, specifically designed to provide a one-stop-shop for all those last-minute questions; a way of ensuring that both parents and children feel prepared for those first few days of school in a new location.  The theatre was full, as the school director and board chair offered their welcome and spoke about the school and its learning vision.  The gym was full, as families moved from stand to stand, asking questions about everything from school buses and private music lessons to where they can purchase the ever popular 'Students Starter Kits'.  Outside, meanwhile, half-anxious students mingled, ate and started to make new friends.

And, thankfully, the sun shone.

Looking back on the last week, though, I'm wondering whether it was always like this.  Phones ring, constantly, as parents desperately wait for positive news about the children that sit on waiting lists in almost every grade.  Long, complex meetings and telephone calls with internal colleagues about how we can provide more spaces without compromising the quality of the educational experience we offer.  A round-the-clock help desk, providing answers, badges, forms and directions.  And this is to say nothing of the team responsible for ensuring that our websites are updated, emails sent out, envelopes stuffed, digital screens filled with content, and everything is filmed or photographed so that we keep a record of the unfolding story of the 2011-2012 school year.

Of course, beginnings are always frantic and the beginning that is 'back to school' at the end of every Summer is no exception.  What has changed over the past few years, is that we have become particularly sensitive to the importance of marketing, not only at the moment of 'attraction' (first contact with the school through advertising and our website) but at the moment of 'induction' (first welcome and introduction to the school).  And this means that the definition of our role, as well as the scope of our ambition, has grown exponentially.  Hence, the new family website, new family information day, dedicated help desk and Student Starter Kits - the later being yet another one-stop shop option for parents who want to ensure that their child has everything they need for the first day of school, without the hassle of taking a trip into town and seeking all manner of school supplies in a country they don’t yet know.

Looking around, it’s all great.  But it is precisely at this point that the question of sustainability is inevitably and appropriately raised. 

Can we keep this up?  We can't keep adding to our 'to do' list and running, cap in hand, to Human Resources for more and more people.  Someone has to do the cost-value analysis and chart the real and lasting added value of even our best ideas.  And not just once - every year, line by line, idea by idea.

Even today, on the eve of the students’ return, there was a tangible mixture of stress and excitement in the air.  Every desk and every phone was occupied. 

If a passer-by had taken the time to look closely, however, they would have noticed that one of the keys to our current sustainability is, in fact, the ‘resource’ of our own students and recent graduates. 

Rebecca was explaining to a family on the phone what documents we still needed in order to process their application.  Anna was creating posters and badges.  Atsuko and Antje were processing Starter Kit orders, while Silvia was editing a video from footage taken the information day last Sunday afternoon. 

All but one of these volunteers and interns are currently or were previously ISB students - part of a programme specifically designed to offer young people work experience in the field of communications, marketing, event management and school admissions; a programme that is also strategically designed to 'capture the student voice'.  After all, each one of these students not only support our work, but literally embody the very product that we are attempting to 'sell' to families and visitors to the school.

As international schools all over the world open their doors over the next few days for another school year, it is really only ever about the learning experience of our students.  I’m lucky enough to be able to support this effort with a team of outstanding professionals who understand the critical role we play in helping families find their place in the story of our school. 

The truth is, though, despite even our best efforts and most innovative ideas, we simply could not sustain what we now do without the support, insight, creativity and energy of the students who support us in this task.

School marketing on a shoestring

When it comes to marketing an international school, we all feel we’re doing it on a shoestring budget.   The fact is, however, the length of that string seems to change from school to school and has certainly stretched over time.

Once upon a time, the sum of school marketing was making sure that the school prospectus was up to date.  Expensive schools turned to expensive professionals to produce glossy, colour brochures, filled with generic pictures of smiling, happy children; whilst the rest of us tried our best to produce what we could on slow, unreliable computers and a dot matrix printer.

Looking back over the school year that has just ended, I realize how far we’ve come.  If nothing else, this has certainly been a busy one!  We’ve started a new live-streaming video service for all major  school events; launched an online shopping portal that even provides new families with the option to purchase ‘student starter kit’ (with everything that’s needed for the first few days of school); implemented an award-winning advertising campaign; designed a Smartphone Application that, over time, will eventually replace our traditional, paper school directory; begun to think about the role of computer-generated animation in communicating complex curricular ideas; and implemented the ‘ISB Experience Stick’ – a state-of-the-art application for prospective families and teachers.

And this is to say nothing about the constant web-updating, brochure production, social media development going on behind the scenes, or the relentless ‘marketing’ performed by a highly-dedicated Admissions team – constantly telling the story of ISB and helping people find their place in that story.

To the outsider, perhaps, this is big budget stuff and, even if balanced by another record enrolment, is beyond what they consider feasible.  After all, as we know, it’s not just about the investment in technology and materials, but an even bigger investment in people and the team that is required to implement and sustain these various marketing initiatives.

The fact is, however, we’re still doing all this on a shoestring and with an annual commitment to reducing costs. 

And, for what they are worth, here are some of the principles that are helping us along this path:

1. Stop printing and see what happens.  The answer is ‘probably nothing.’  Over the last three years, we have dramatically reduced the volume of paper we use.  No one has complained, the story is still being told, and parents are still subscribing their children to our school.  We’ve begun to see the myth of print production for what it is.
2. Stop advertising and see what happens.  The answer, for sure, is ‘something’.  The point is, however, it may be time to re-focus on what kind of print and digital media enhance your brand in the ways you are looking for.  This is certainly one case where doing less can increase the effectiveness of your campaign.
3. Give young people the experience they are looking for.  We continue to turn to marketing and communications interns, often former students, who have recently completed their university studies to support the level of our ambition.  These innovative, dynamic young professionals have proven to be critical to our recent success.  Gone are the days when the intern stood next to a copier all day.  These individuals are the new project managers in this organization.
4. In-source gradually.  We’ve known for a while that it would be unrealistic to assume that we could immediately do everything ourselves and maintain the quality we have become used to.  The fact is, however, the nature of the marketing and communications task is changing.  A photo, a video or a document may only be valuable for a day… so why spend chunks of your marketing budget on high-end items that are rarely as adaptable as your changing story requires?  There is undoubtedly a place for ‘off-the-shelf’ templates.  Not everything needs to be bespoke.
5. Recycle everything you do.  The ‘replicable value’ of an action was a concept that I once learned from the European Commission.  In other words, how many times can your work be ‘repeated’ by others and in different contexts?  Over the years, we have learned constantly to ask how any piece of work can be used and re-used by different members of the team for multiple audiences.  After all, if a story is worth telling, it should be re-told time and time again to ensure maximum impact.

In the end, I guess all of us feel that our particular shoestring is not quite long enough to match the scale of our ambition.  The trick, though, is to find ways of extending the string and achieving what once we felt was impossible.

I guess that’s why it’s called a stretch goal.

10 things to stop doing to new parents

I’m stuck on Starbucks. 

At least, I’m stuck on the principles that enabled company founder Howard Shultz turn the humble cup of coffee into a 21^st century art form.

Shultz’s dream, ironically, was less about the coffee and more about becoming a ‘third place’ in people’s lives: home, work, Starbucks.  He was also relentless in his commitment to the detail-oriented, genuine ‘experience’ that he wanted each and every one of his new ‘customers’ to feel, every time they walked into one of his stories.

But what’s all that got to do with those of us who support school admissions? 

At a time when many of us are gearing up to plan next year’s start-of-year orientation programmes for new families, here are 10 things that Starbucks has helped us stop doing at the International School of Brussels over recent years.

1. Stop assuming that they read.  We became convinced that 90% of our website and most of the information we were sending to our new families was overwhelming – at a time in their lives when they already felt overwhelmed.  So we created a dedicated ‘new family’ website that gave out information on a need to know basis with the sole purpose of surviving the first few days at ISB.

2. Stop giving out telephone numbers. We used to have telephone numbers for everything and everyone.  Ironically, though, people never knew who to ring or who to contact with their questions.  That is, until we started launching a dedicated ‘help desk’ the week before school opened – a one-stop-shop for all questions and inquiries.

3. Stop all those damn coffee mornings. Schools are notoriously complex and we forget how much we take for granted.  Many parents used to mistakenly assume that they had to attend every event we told them about (I’ll never forget the mum who willingly turned up for Meet the Coaches night, even though her son was only 3 years old).  We decided to make it simpler for parents, cut out half the meetings and tell them which ones were important and which were optional.

4. Stop overlooking the details. When you first arrive at a place, you always notice the details.  That’s often the difference between a 5-star hotel and a 3-star hotel.  It’s the details that take time to sort out, but we’ve started looking at them far more carefully recently.

5. Stop sending them down the road to buy a mug. There’s nothing worse than arriving in a new country and have to go straight into the city centre to buy a pile of stationary and books in a language that is not your own.  It’s for that reason we now give parents the option to purchase a Student Starter Pack containing everything their child will need for those first few days of school.

6. Stop changing the music every time they walk into the building. Maybe there’s no music in your school, but we’ve learnt that lack of coherence is really frustrating for families.  We are still working on making sure that we have one story to tell and that this story is evident in everything we do and say.

7. Stop treating them like the enemy. Corporations taught us this a decade ago.  We have to stop thinking that parents, with their anxieties and questions, are somehow the enemy.  A good day around new family orientation season is not a quiet day.  It’s a day when our phones are ringing off the hook, our inboxes are full, and our offices have queues of parents – each one of which is receiving the answers to their questions.  Every question answered is another problem solved for the first day of school.

8. Stop assuming they’ll remember you.  They won’t.  So wear a badge giving your name and offering to help.  Try it, it works!

9. Stop promising the earth.  Don’t oversell and promise a programme, a bus route or an after-school activity that you can’t deliver on.  We learned to our cost that over-selling always comes back to bite you in the end.

10. Stop thinking you’ve made it.  You never will.  Nor will we.  So ask new parents every year how they found the experience and how you can improve it next year.

If you stop doing at least half of the things in this list, I’ll guarantee that you’ll begin to notice the difference.

And if you really want to make a positive impression, start serving good coffee.