Change Narrative Project
A change narrative is the story an organisation tells about a change: why it is happening, what it means for each person, and what stays the same. My Change Narrative Project builds that story for your AI rollout and adapts it for staff, board, funders and customers, so your change management starts with understanding.
The tool is live. The story is missing.
The system works. The training is done. Usage is flat, and the corridor has written its own version of events: “they are bringing in AI to replace us.”
When leaders stay quiet about a change, people fill the silence with their own version. A change narrative gives them a better story, and it comes from the people leading the change.
Why narrative is the heart of change management
BCG advises leaders to put 70% of AI transformation effort into people and processes (BCG, The Leader’s Guide to Transforming with AI, 2024). People change how they work when they understand why, see what it means for them, and trust the people asking. Narrative is how that understanding travels through an organisation.
I spent over 20 years at Mediacorp making complex ideas land with real audiences. A change narrative uses the same craft, pointed at your own people.
From one announcement to a shared Story World
In narrative marketing, I use the idea of a Story World: a space where a brand’s own story sits alongside the stories its customers, employees and publics tell. Read more in What is Narrative Marketing?
Change works the same way. An announcement is one voice. A shared narrative for change is a Story World with four sources:
- The canon: leadership’s story of the change. It sets the direction and the boundaries.
- Staff stories: what your people experience as they use the new workflow. For example, the team lead who gets her Friday afternoons back.
- Customer or beneficiary stories: what the people you serve notice, and what stays human for them.
- Stakeholder stories: what your board, funders and partners say about the change.
Leadership provides the framework. Everyone else adds to it. A narrative is shared when all four sources can tell it without contradicting each other, and that is when people start to own the change.
Who it is for
SMEs: you have rolled out, or are about to roll out, an AI tool or workflow, and you need your team to use it well.
Social service organisations: you need staff, volunteers, board and funders to understand how AI will be used, and to trust that the relationship with the people you serve stays at the centre.
How it works
- Listen. I talk with leaders and the staff affected, to hear what they hope for, what they fear, and what they have already heard.
- Shape the canon. I write leadership’s story of the change using a simple arc: the context (what is happening and why now), the tension (the problem and the concerns), and the resolution (what will change, what will not, and what comes next).
- Adapt it for each audience. Staff hear what happens to their role. The board hears the business case and the risks. Funders hear how the mission is protected. Customers or beneficiaries hear what stays human.
- Plan the telling. We agree who says what, in what order, and through which channels, so the story reaches people from their own leaders first.
- Prepare the messengers. I brief the leaders and managers who will tell the story, so they can answer the hard questions with confidence.
- Grow the Story World. We set up simple ways to gather early stories from staff, customers and stakeholders, and share the ones that show the change working, so the story is carried by the people living it.
What you receive
- a core change narrative (the canon) for your AI rollout;
- a Story World map: the four sources of stories, and prompts for gathering them;
- a version for each key audience;
- key messages and a question-and-answer sheet for managers;
- a communication plan: who says what, when and where.
What it does not cover
The project shapes the story and the plan. It does not train staff to use a specific AI tool, and it does not build or configure tools. I can work alongside your vendor or trainer so the story and the training say the same thing.
Questions people ask
When should we start?
Ideally before the rollout, so the story arrives before the rumours. It also works mid-rollout, when adoption has stalled.
Can you work with our internal communications or HR team?
Yes. I shape the narrative and the plan with them, and they carry it forward.
Is a change narrative the same as an announcement?
An announcement tells people what is happening. A change narrative explains why, what it means for them, and what stays the same, and it is told more than once, by the right people.
Is it done in person or online?
Either, or a mix. I work with organisations across Singapore.
How much does it cost?
Each project is scoped to your organisation. Email me with a short description of your rollout and I will reply with a proposal.
What story are your people telling each other about AI right now?
Email ryoleong@contentplayhq.com to talk about a change narrative.
Not ready yet? Start with the free guide, The Question Before the Tool.
Source: BCG, The Leader’s Guide to Transforming with AI, 6 Dec 2024. https://www.bcg.com/featured-insights/the-leaders-guide-to-transforming-with-ai