Daniel Pink’s best-selling book, ‘A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future,’ outlines how the future of global business will belong to right-brainers. He details the characteristics right-brainers tend to have that makes them irreplaceable when compared to left-brainers. With the six traits he outlines, all of them are rooted in a personal connection.
The origin of creativity, the right side of the brain also focuses on emotion and intuitiveness, which are some of the foundations for personal connection.
As Pink points out in the book, creativity is the competitive differentiator that can differentiate commodities. It is the difference between your job being safe and being outsourced. Because left-brain jobs require logic, rational, and organization, they are the ones that are the easiest to automate.
This leads us to this blog’s topic — how a personal connection will make your business recession-proof. To us, personal connection is all about storytelling with content that builds trust, shares story details, and embraces emotion. All three of these pillars are natural right-brain traits that help clients connect with their audiences.
At VP Legacies, we focus on building strong, deep meaningful relationships with our clients and vendors. In addition, our custom eLearning and micro-learning capabilities focus heavily on building personal connections with the learner.
The Six Senses Necessary to Survive the Age of Artificial Intelligence
In the book, Pink describes six senses necessary to survive in the age of artificial intelligence and machine learning:
- Design is the key to attracting the first glance. Smart design goes beyond general function to engage the senses.
- Story is the narrative added to products and services; it’s used to compel the reader, rather than make an argument.
- Symphony is the act of adding invention and big picture thinking.
- Empathy entails going beyond logic and engaging emotion and intuition.
- Play brings humor and lightheartedness to brand communication.
- Meaning is what gives the purpose of the communication; to convey meaning is to provide a purpose.
Related: How to Prepare Employees for a Recession
Utilizing the Six Senses to Benefit Your Brand
Your brand is not just a collection of logos and phrases; it is the first thing the public sees. Therefore, crafting a witty slogan and an eye-catching logo is essential to your success. However, your brand image is not defined by these two elements alone. The way your brand communicates its messages to the public must include all of the elements Pink has laid out for surviving the age of artificial intelligence.
While utilizing six separate elements may seem like a complicated task, it’s surprisingly easy to use them without realizing it. This is because these elements often work in concert, making them easy to utilize in your communications if care is taken and creativity is allowed to flourish. And there are our keywords – ‘communications’ and ‘creativity.’
Whether you’re speaking directly to someone about your product or service or crafting an email or blog post, you’re telling a story. Ask anyone in the world of writing, marketing, or communications, and they will tell you that the way you convey your message is your ticket to success or failure. Therefore, it goes without question that storytelling is one of the most powerful tools for utilizing all of Pink’s elements in one fell swoop. However, before you can find success, you must first understand the power of storytelling.
The Power of Storytelling
Of the six senses he mentions in the book, Pink places the most emphasis on “Story,” which is what will personify your products and services. The story is also what encompasses all the content created to position your brand in the marketplace. It is what is going to add context to the products and services and help the audience realize why they should care. Stories are the first step building a personal connection with your audience; something a machine can’t do.
Related: Build Story-based eLearning Content to Engage Your Learners
Building a Personal Connection Through Storytelling
Through storytelling, you can capture content that will engage the senses and determine the details that are going to resonate with your audience. You are going to give your brand a human element, something logic and reason can’t do. Storytelling is going to give your brand an edge against all the others; it’s going to be what gives it meaning in the global marketplace.
Stories are meant to be creative and playful while showcasing a wide range of emotions. This unique blend is what is going to connect with your audience personally. It is going to make them relate to you and your brand’s story. Even the smallest of details or emotions is going to make a lasting impact on your audience. And it’s the right brain that makes this possible.
Related: How to Create a Recession-Proof Employee Retention Plan
Creating Great Stories for a Powerful Personal Connection
And to create great stories, you need to inspire your employees. A recession is often associated with firing employees, but companies that invest heavily in employee programs see the opposite effect. One company, CarMax, did precisely that. When the 2008 recession hit, CarMax boosted its employee training and development programs so existing employees could receive raises and move up in the company. By taking the time for employee development, CarMax cultivated its own employees’ ideas to create a better customer experience. By investing in your employees, you can inspire new stories. As a result, CarMax sales are up 116 percent in 8 years, or 14.5 percent annually.
Take Action and Tell a Story
So the answer to how you can use a personal connection to recession-proof your business is simple – utilize the right side of your brain to tell a story.
As shown in this article, storytelling is a powerful way to engage with your audience. Using the basic building blocks of creative writing, you can craft a compelling story that will connect with your audience so that you can convey a message. If successful, the story you’ve shared will connect with your audience on a meaningful level. In turn, it will give them a positive impression of your brand and help ensure a sale and repeat customers. Therefore, it’s vital to regularly utilize the power of storytelling if you want to make your business recession-proof.
In addition to successfully telling stories to your customers, you need to make sure you are investing time and resources into personally connecting with your employees as well.
That is where we come in. At VP Legacies, we help you rapidly invest in your employees with our internal communication and custom eLearning strategies focused on scaling your employee retention practices.