Analogical Storytelling Approach

Data technologists are often challenged with effectively communicating complex technical information to the non-technical side of the business to gain approval for the funding, the resources, the priorities, or all the above for any given data strategy.

This situation is common practice, but being able to conceptually explain the strategy is where good storytelling comes into play. To better elaborate, consider the following story.

Suppose you are in the year 300 BC and you need to create a way to collect, store and organize data. How do you do it? Well as a first step, you’ll likely learn the language used to communicate and gather information, particularly in its written format. With this knowledge in hand, you’ll be ready to start writing. To accomplish this, you’ll acquire some papyrus or parchment and some ink (made from the local materials available) and begin recording information. When you run out of page space on one page, you’ll start to create more pages. When the number of pages gets large enough that it becomes difficult to find a particular page quickly, you’ll give each page a mark or a number to make it easier and faster to access the information you want. And when the amount of marked or numbered pages becomes too cumbersome to balance on your lap or to spread out on a table, you’ll create a book by binding the pages together…

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Originally published by
Becker’s Hospital Review