Organizational Obituary
I recently reviewed a book called Storytelling: Branding in Practice at Nonprofit Online News. In the chapter entitled “The Company Core Story” the authors present an exercise called The Obituary Test. It’s very similar to exercises I’ve done with both organizational and individual clients. I paraphrase it as follows:
Write down your company’s obituary. How would it read if your stakeholders were to write it? How would it read if other organization’s in your field were to write it? What would the world look like if your organization didn’t exist? If you were to close tomorrow, who would miss you and why? Have you made any real difference for your stakeholders?
This is a test of authenticity for any organization. How would you answer it?
Posted: January 24th, 2007 under The Ideas.
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Comment from AC
Time: January 29, 2007, 7:21 am
I’m the executive director of a private grantmaking foundation that’s in the process of closing, so the question of organizational obituary isn’t an exercise for me and all those I work with. Knowing that an organization has an ending point is a powerful way to clear the mind and focus. It’s given urgency and seriousness to our work that have helped us do very good work. It’s also, I believe, helped the staff of the nonprofits we fund to tell us what they want and could use from the foundation. It’s an unusual experience in the nonprofit sector, but one that completely outweighs the anxiety of a job’s ending.
Pingback from Organizational Obituary as Aspiration » The Authentic Organization
Time: January 30, 2007, 12:26 pm
[...] A few days ago, I wrote a short piece on the idea of an organizational obituary as a tool for deepening authenticity. With the feedback I’ve received, it’s become clear that there are some ambiguities in the practice that prevent it from being as useful as we might like. These ambiguities are identical to those that crop up in similar exercises for individuals who are exploring their calling in life. [...]
Comment from Chas
Time: February 1, 2007, 7:48 am
Thanks for the book review and great exercise! Your post is good timing as we’re trying to figure out how we can best tell our story. We’re also exploring how we use storytelling to advance our communication and advocacy efforts.
I’m wondering if you know of an organization/company who is doing this well. We have some great storytellers on staff, but I’d like to get a visual of how this frame of mind plays out in press releases, action alerts, web pages, etc.
Thanks,
Chas
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