First, the lesson:
You … your brand, your company, your own self … have a preferred narrative. Marketers call this positioning. It’s what you wish and hope your audiences will think and believe about you. Usually we think of audiences as customers. But they also can be neighbors, legislators, bosses, spouses ... enough.
All the messaging, branding, advertising and – yes! – PR in the world will not override the experience people have with you every day. And if it’s not an everyday experience, then every encounter or Interface counts even more.
That experience forms a competing narrative. If you're not careful, it becomes the dominant narrative.
The parable:
A young woman joined a convent. The mother superior was very specific.
“If you join us,” she explained, “you will spend your life in prayer, song and manual labor. Other than prayer and song, you will be permitted to speak only two words each year. Do you understand?”
“I do,” said the young woman.
The novice went directly to the fields, where she toiled from dawn to dusk for a full a year. On the anniversary of her admittance, the mother superior invited her to the chapel.
“You have served our community well,” the older woman said. “As I explained, you may now speak. But you are limited to two words.”
The younger woman swallowed hard. “Cold room,” she said.
“You are absolutely correct,” mother superior replied. “We long have had trouble with the fuel supply. I am taking you from the fields and sending you to assist your sisters in chopping wood. Do you accept this assignment?”
The younger woman nodded her assent and went to the woods to chop wood.
After two years, again mother superior summoned the young sister to the chapel.
“You have served our community well,” the older woman said. “As I explained, you may now speak. But you are limited to two words.”
The younger woman swallowed hard. “Bad food,” she said.
“You have worked without fail and performed better than sisters with twice your experience. I am promoting you to the kitchen. Do you accept this assignment?”
The young woman nodded her assent and went off to the kitchen.
After three years of toiling in the fields, chopping wood and cooking for the other sisters, the mother superior again summoned the young sister to the chapel.
“You have served our community well,” the older woman said. “The food in our convent has never been so delicious. As I explained, you may now speak. But you are limited to two words.”
The young woman swallowed hard and spoke.
“I quit.”
“Doesn’t surprise me,” mother superior said. “You’ve done nothing but bitch since you got here.”
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