Transformation Without Story Is Just Disruption
What banner are we actually marching behind?
There’s something I’ve noticed over the years, working through periods of transformation and change.
It’s not that people resist what’s happening.
It’s that they don’t always understand why it’s happening, or where it’s meant to take them.
I’ve sat in rooms where the plan was clear. The timelines were clear. The priorities were clear.
But the meaning wasn’t.
And without meaning, people start trying to make sense of things on their own.
What are we actually trying to become?
What does success look like on the other side of this?
What banner are we meant to be marching behind together?
When those questions don’t have answers, they make them up and even good change can start to feel disorientating.
Story isn’t comms. It’s coherence.
We often talk about “storytelling” in organisations as if it’s a communications exercise.
It isn’t.
Story is how people understand where they fit.
It’s the connective tissue between strategy and the day-to-day work. The thread that helps someone in sales, marketing, finance or customer success understand how what they do contributes to where the business is trying to go.
There is always a story behind change.
The problem is that it’s often only fully understood at the top.
When that happens, the organisation splits quietly into “them” and “us”.
Those who know the direction, and those who are expected to deliver it without really seeing it.
When silence feels safer than clarity
I’ve worked in environments where leaders chose not to say much internally, often for understandable reasons.
Regulation. Sensitivity. External scrutiny.
The thinking was: if we wouldn’t say it publicly, we shouldn’t say it internally either.
I understand that logic.
But I’ve also seen the cost of it.
In the absence of any internal narrative, people start asking each other what’s going on. Corridor conversations replace clarity. Rumours fill the gaps that leadership leaves behind.
Not because people are difficult, but because humans are meaning-making creatures. We will always try to join the dots.
Silence doesn’t stop speculation. It just moves it underground.
Goals without context don’t orient anyone
I’ve also seen organisations share headline goals such as the five priorities for the year, the strategic pillars, the north stars etc.
All technically correct.
But without translation.
What does this actually mean for a sales team? Where should they focus? What matters most?
How does marketing support it? What role does customer success play?
What are we building towards in the medium term, not just this quarter?
Without that context, functions end up rowing hard, but not necessarily in the same direction.
People stay busy.
But alignment quietly erodes.
People want to contribute to something that makes sense
Most people don’t show up to work just to fill time.
Yes, we all have bills to pay and responsibilities. But people also want to feel that their effort means something, that they’re contributing to a shared mission, not just completing tasks.
If you can’t articulate where the business is heading, it becomes almost impossible to have meaningful conversations about performance, development, or reward.
At year end, what are you really saying?
“This is the part you played in our journey this year.” and “This is the role we need you to play next...”
Without a shared story, those conversations lose their anchor.
And over time, that’s what creates instability, not change itself.
People don’t resist change. They resist chaos.
We live in an unpredictable world. Plans will change. Strategies will evolve.
That’s 100% normal.
But when people don’t have a roadmap, even a flexible one, everything starts to feel reactive.
Story doesn’t remove uncertainty.
It gives people orientation within it.
Something to come back to.
Something to hang their hat on.
Something that helps them understand why the work matters, even as the details shift.
Without that, transformation isn’t experienced as progress.
It’s just experienced as noise.