A couple of weeks ago, a senior leader and I worked on a project update that would be delivered in a town hall. The project was called Da Vinci -yes, named after the very famous Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian polymath. The leader and I decided to start the town hall by sharing why we named the project Da Vinci. Our rationale: this would help the audience understand the purpose of the project.
Here is how we scripted the start:
The First Version
“Leonardo Da Vinci represents the exact spirit we want to bring into the transformation of XXX. Leonardo da Vinci never began with simplicity , he began with chaos and complexity. His notebooks were filled with sketches and ideas. But he believed that if you sit with complexity long enough, patterns emerge. And from that insight, he created inventions and designs so coherent that they still influence engineering today. This is exactly the journey we’re on with the transformation of XXX. Like Da Vinci, we are not erasing complexity, we are reorganizing it and making the way we work coherent.”
Now, this may sound clever, but it also feels like a forced parallel between Da Vinci and the transformation project. And most importantly, this is not a story. It’s missing some of the most impactful elements of storytelling.
Does it remind the audience of an experience they have had?
In other words, will it actually resonate?
Where is the unexpected moment ,the thing they didn’t see coming?
Keeping these two principles in mind, this is how we rewrote it:
The Revised Version
“Good morning, everyone. I want to take you back to January this year when we started a project called Da Vinci to transform the XXX. I clearly remember sitting down and thinking: what are some of the attributes of this transformation? The words that instantly came to mind were multidisciplinary, complexity, and chaos ,and at one point we felt, wow, this is like the Da Vinci Code!
Originally, our response was simply a reaction to the complexity. But as we dug deeper, we realised Leonardo da Vinci actually represents the exact spirit we want to bring into the transformation of XXX. He never began with simplicity, he began with chaos and complexity. His notebooks were filled with sketches and ideas. But he believed that if you sit with complexity long enough, patterns emerge. And from those patterns, he created inventions so coherent they still influence engineering today.”
*“Now let me connect this to what you may be experiencing today. First, we’ve combined Team A and Team Y as a part of the transformation.
Why? Picture this: in the past, when we had to announce our half-year financial results ,9 a.m. to media and 11 a.m. to analysts ,we used two different laptops because they were different teams, even though the deck was the same. Worse still, if there was a last-minute change in the morning, Team A updated the deck and then had to ensure it was loaded onto the Team Y laptop as well. And sometimes the updates were so last minuet that no matter hard you tried, we will miss the update for Team Y
By bringing these teams together, we now have one deck and one laptop. Most importantly, we have one voice shaping our narrative ,to investors and to the public. This means we can respond faster, speak with clarity, and present a consistent message that strengthens trust.
Although this seems like a simple task, it requires coordination and communication under pressure. And this is not really about one laptop or one deck , it’s about one narrative.
This is exactly the journey we’re on with the Corporate Centre. Like Da Vinci, we are not erasing complexity we’re organising it and making the way we work coherent.”*
So what changed from the first attempt to the second?
1. It resonates
The audience sees their own world in the example. They don’t just listen , they feel the challenge of complexity because you describe a moment they have lived through.
2. It contains the unexpected
The “Da Vinci Code” moment, the chaotic two-laptop scenario, the behind-the-scenes pressure ,these add a layer of surprise. The audience understands something they didn’t fully appreciate before.
Forcing facts to sound like a story is a common corporate communication disease but when you take the fact, add context to it and deliver with emotional resonance , only then you have a story.
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