Make a business case like fairy tales

Discover the magic formula of timeless stories, and how you can make a business case like a fairy tale

Once upon a time, there was a young princess living in a magnificent castle. She was beautiful, smart and kind-hearted. Raised by her respectful parents, the king and queen, the princess grew up as an honest and brave person. However, one day, something bad happened. An evil witch, the step-sister of the queen, envied of the good life of the royal family, had decided to invade the country with her demonic troops. She killed the king and queen, displaced countless citizens of the country, and imprisoned the princess. At the critical moment, the charming prince from the adjacent country came to the rescue. He killed the witch and singlehandedly defeated the bad guys. He found the princess and felt in love with her. Before long, he married the princess and became the new king of the country. They both live happily forever.

Does it sound familiar? This story was a total made-up, but you could easily associate it with many fairy tales such as Snow White, Lion King, Little Red Riding Hood. Why is it so? If you pay closer attention to the structure of those stories, you will find incredibly similar plot patterns.

1. Once upon a time (life is good)

2. Until one day (something bad happens)

3. And then (a twist occurs, tension arises)

4. Finally (challenge resolved, happy ending)

Many fairy tales we are familiar with were written with this pattern. If you pause for a moment and recall your favorite fairy tale or the bedtime story you tell to your kids, chances are they were written in this pattern to some degree. This is not by coincidence. Humans, across time, cultures and places, have followed a certain pattern to tell timeless myths and stories. If myths and stories can be told again and again in thousands of years, there must be something special about the story itself. Joseph Campbell has discovered the magical formula of great stories. In his 1949 book, Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell argued that the “hero’s journey” is the basic recipe of all timeless stories. The hero’s journey has three main parts: Departure, Initiation, and Return. Uncoincidentally, it was discovered that movies are usually written with a similar pattern. The main actor was first ousted into a new world, then he met with challenges. Through his effort and help from mentors, the hero transformed into a better self. Then he returned and ruled the world. Campbell argued that there are never any new stories, only the same stories retold again and again. Recall the plots of The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, The Avengers, you will be amazed by the assertion of Campbell.

Okay, you are not a story writer or a movie screenwriter. How can you benefit from this magical story structure? The answer is that you could write your own story, whether it is a business case, a presentation, or a sales pitch, with a simplified version of the story structure called SCQA, also known as The Minto Pyramid Principle. The SCQA structure goes like this:

Situation – The situation is the background of the case. What is the current situation right now? Where are we? Situation is the peaceful life of the princess in the fairy tale.

Complication or Challenge – What challenge are we up to? What’s the twist? What’s the turning point from the current situation? Complication draws reader’s attention by creating tension. It usually starts with a big word “However” or “But”. In my story, complication is the invasion of the evil witch.

Question – How are we going to resolve the challenge? This big question mark hooks people – they want to find out what’s going to happen next. What will happen to the princess and the country? Will she die?

Answer – Answer is the main message of the story. How is the challenge being resolved? What will happen to the main characters of the story? In my story, the answer was revealed when the charming prince appeared out of nowhere and rescued the princess and the country.

Let’s try to apply this framework in a business setting. Say, you want to propose to your boss to purchase a new software system in order to better track customer’s social media footprint. You may pitch in the old-fashioned way:

Boss, we need to invest in a new data tracking system. The old system is outdated. We have used it for a decade and it no longer serves us well. It doesn’t track many indicators that we need to know about our customers. The new system can do a lot of things, such as…

If you were the boss, would you be moved by a pitch like this? Not likely.

With the SCQA model, your pitch goes like this:

Situation– The Good Tracker system, developed by The Good Tracking Company, is capable of tracking and managing customer data in the retail sector. We have used this system since 2009 and have benefited from its accurate tracking data, easy-to-use interface, and professional data export function.

Your boss may think, “Yes, I know this. Why are you telling me this? Let me see where you want to take me.”

Complication– However, the prominence of social media has rapidly risen in the past decade, which in turn drove changes in consumer behaviors and purchasing habits. Consumer behaviors on social media cannot be ignored. Instead, they have now become the driving force of our data analysis and business decisions. Although the Good Tracker system has a plug-in which allows us to track consumer behaviors online, it is rather generic and it doesn’t allow us to customize the specific behaviors we want to monitor. The Good Tracker has not kept up with our analysis needs.

Your boss will follow you, “Yes, you are right. Good Tracker is dated. We have lost some business because of its shortcoming.”

Question– How are we able to track the needed consumer data given the limited functionality of Good Tracker?

You continue to lead your boss’s train of thought, “I wonder what we can do. You have any recommendation?”

Answer– Replace Good Tracker with a new system, the Great Tracker. The Great Tracker uses the latest blockchain technology. It can do…

Your boss goes, “I see where you are coming from. This is making sense now.”

What’s the difference between the old-fashioned and the SCQA model? The first thing you may notice is that the SCQA model is much longer. That’s not the point. You could write a long argument with the old-fashioned way. The fundamental difference of SCQA compared to the old way is that SCQA lays out your message in a systematic and brain-friendly way. You hook your audience just as ancient stories hook us. They will follow your argument and buy into your recommendation much easier. In the absence of SCQA, the presenter speaks as he/she thinks. Without thoughtful organization, messages and arguments lump together – less convincing, more confusing is the usual result.

Let’s try one more example.

You are the Chief Operating Officer of a jewelry retail brand. Sales have plummeted for three quarters and there’s no sign of recovery. You want to propose to the CEO to try a jewelry rental service – an innovation that no one in the industry has ever done. Let’s see what the SCQ model looks like:

Situation– Our brand, Lovely Heart, has achieved consistent growth in the past five years. Despite an industry slowdown, Lovely Heart was able to meet sales revenues until early this year. The brand’s competitive advantages are derived from the century old prestige brand name and its finest quality products.

Complication– However, the global economic meltdown since the beginning of this year is threatening the future outlook of Lovely Heart’s sales figures. We have taken a few actions including early retirement plans but to no significant avail.

Question– Are there opportunities where we can capitalize on our past success to maximize shareholder values, while minimize the impact of the financial crisis?

Answer– Lovely Heart should pilot a jewelry rental service in the US market, focusing on wedding jewelry products.

If you are making a business case in the corporate boardroom, you may start off your presentation with the SCQA model, followed by supporting data to back up your claim – what makes the rental service lucrative, how does the business model work, how to mitigate risks, etc. The SCQA model sets the direction and context of your presentation. As a presenter, storyteller, or salesperson, you want your audience to follow your thoughts. The good presenter provides quality data and arguments and lets the audience make up their minds. The great presenter thoughtfully organizes the messages in a suspenseful and engaging manner so as to move the audience to buy-in to the recommendation. The SCQA model can help you achieve that really well.

In addition to business application, the SCQA model can be applied in storytelling. Try to make up a fantasy story with the SCQA model when you tell the next bedtime story to your kids.

Once upon a time, there was a little boy called Peta. He is 7 years old and his favorite activity is to play ball catching game with his puppy, Lucky, in his backyard. One day, he was playing the same game with Lucky. When he threw the ball in the air it was blown into the bushes by strong gust. Lucky went inside the bushes to pick up the ball. It’s been five minutes but Lucky hasn’t come out. Peta wondered where it went, so he went into the bushes to find Lucky. He kept yelling Lucky’s name but he couldn’t see any trail of his pet. The day starts getting dark and Peta didn’t bring a torch with him. He wanted to go home but found himself lost in the maze of bushes…

If you are to ask your kid, “Do you want to know what happens to Peta next?” Your kid will say yes, 100%. They are on the hook of your story.

In conclusion, messages, whether in the form of stories, business cases, sales pitches, are supposed to be 1) understood, and 2) influential. If you are making a case, you want to influence people’s decision. The SCQA model is a simple yet powerful framework that organizes your messages in a brain-friendly way. If you want your messages to be understood and influential, try the SCQA model in your next “story”. You may be surprised by its magical power.

The article was published in Macau Manager Magazine Volume 80.