Negative stories in business have a purpose and also  have limitations.  We came across an example last week that demonstrates both these points perfectly.  Last week there was a leaked email doing the rounds from Nokia CEO Stephen Elop.

The email was a prelude to Nokia’s strategy announcement on Friday 11th February.  But Elop’s  initial email to employees is worth analysis from a negative story perspective. 

The email starts with a well know story about  the burning platform.

“There is a pertinent story about a man who was working on an oil platform in the North Sea. He woke up one night from a loud explosion, which suddenly set his entire oil platform on fire. In mere moments, he was surrounded by flames. Through the smoke and heat, he barely made his way out of the chaos to the platform’s edge. When he looked down over the edge, all he could see were the dark, cold, foreboding Atlantic waters.

As the fire approached him, the man had mere seconds to react. He could stand on the platform, and inevitably be consumed by the burning flames. Or, he could plunge 30 meters in to the freezing waters. The man was standing upon a “burning platform,” and he needed to make a choice.

He decided to jump. It was unexpected. In ordinary circumstances, the man would never consider plunging into icy waters. But these were not ordinary times – his platform was on fire. The man survived the fall and the waters. After he was rescued, he noted that a “burning platform” caused a radical change in his behaviour.

We too, are standing on a “burning platform,” and we must decide how we are going to change our behaviour.”

This is a true story and was the origin of the term ‘burning platform’.  Starting the email with this negative story serves a specific purpose.  It raises the awareness of a problem.  If your employees or your customers are not aware there is a problem then a negative story can shock them into the realisation that there is one.    That is the purpose of a negative story.  The limitations of a negative story however is that it will not necessarily change behaviour.  So when Elop concludes the story with  ‘We too, are standing on a “burning platform,” and we must decide how we are going to change our behaviour.’  While that may be the case, the negative burning platform story will not achieve the change of behaviour.

Why not? As conventional wisdom says that crisis is a powerful motivator for change.

John Kotter, Harvard Business School professor and award-winning author has hit on a crucial insight . “Behavior change happens mostly by speaking to people’s feelings,”  he says. “This is true even in organizations that are very focused on analysis and quantitative measurement, even among people who think of themselves as smart in an MBA sense. In highly successful change efforts, people find ways to help others see the problems or solutions in ways that influence emotions, not just thought.”

Sharing his own expereinces  Kotter,  states ‘We went out looking for stories of successful change because I concluded years ago that people need more positive examples than they need negative ones. People are seeing too much negative stuff, and they know it. They can all give you 53 negative stories. What people need are positive examples of what works’.

I then read the rest of the Nokia email to see if a positive story would appear …but it didn’t.  The crux of the email was stating dooming fact after dooming fact with a continual reference to the burning platform.  For example,

 ”I have learned that we are standing on a burning platform.  And, we have more than one explosion – we have multiple points of scorching heat that are fuelling a blazing fire around us. ” 

There is an attempt right at the end to motivate and inspire through positivity but it falls well short of achieving that….

“The burning platform, upon which the man found himself, caused the man to shift his behaviour, and take a bold and brave step into an uncertain future. He was able to tell his story.  Now, we have a great opportunity to do the same.”  Nokia did announce their new strategy a few days after this email and reading through everything available on the web I failed to see a positive story used to engage people in the new strategy.  Perhaps positive stories are being used internally.  

So just to recap, it is important to understand that negative stories serve a very specific purpose and that is to raise awareness of  a problem.  Their limitation is that they will not change behaviour, also demonstrated via  WorkSafes use of story .  To change behaviour you need to quickly move on from the negative story and start sharing positive stories …and lots of them.

Tell us what you think …please leave a comment below.