Stories that Move Mountains: Storytelling and Visual Design for Persuasive Presentations

Convincing Evidence

Early in the development of the visual story process, well before it had the name and structure we use in this book, Martin used the technique to help change the relationship between the IT department and the rest of the organization in Her Majesty's Prison Service.

Every year, the senior executives met to review the strategies for different parts of the organization. Each year, the IT director presented the updated IT strategy to the board. He was usually allocated 15 minutes on the agenda. For many years the IT director had presented a document of approximately eight pages, and each year, the group of executives indicated their approval. There was no real discussion, and the IT department wasn't seen as strategic to the performance of the organization. Each year, real opportunities for change were lost because changes in technology and the Internet were not considered a priority by the senior staff.

A new IT director was appointed at the start of a major period of change. This wasn't a small reorganization. Whole departments were undergoing changes, and at the same time, a major update of the IT infrastructure and line of business systems was planned. I was hired to work on this upgrade and to support the implementation of the IT strategy. It was an ambitious program that would affect every major business function. Over a two-year period, it would replace ...