A colleague of mine recently shared a thought provoking McKinsey &amp; Company article, "<a href="http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/business_technology/the_do-or-die_questions_boards_should_ask_about_technology" target="_blank">The do-or-die questions boards should ask about technology.</a>"

Given the growing disruption caused by new computing platforms delivering massive amounts of actionable data, Paul Willmott, a Director in McKinsey's London office, offered nine questions every board member should raise when discussing technology strategy with IT and business leadership. As one would imagine, the questions revolve around technology's impact on the customer experience, ability to improve the company's competitive advantage, agility, and identifying if the company has the capabilities and staff to deliver value from the IT investment.

As a B2B technology marketer for the past 15 years working with vendors and users on communicating messages and stories, it was the very last question Willmott raised which struck a chord: <b>"Are we making the most of our technology story?"</b>

Why would simple storytelling be top-of-mind with the Board? Well, aside from the evolutionary fact that our brains are wired for storytelling, here are five other reasons why the Board is taking notice:

1.  Telling a story and sharing best-practice insight around how you rolled out an employee-friendly BYOD program or implemented an innovative data analytics project, which ultimately improved the customer experience, is powerful. People want to work for and do business with innovative companies. And if you're not sharing those stories how will those prospective employees and customers know all the good you're doing from a technology perspective?
2.  We live in a "Share / Like / Re-Post" world. Yes, even business executives and board members are here too. Though you may be telling your technology story behind closed doors or in a briefing to prospects, how are the masses to know unless you make it open and available in many different formats (i.e. digital, print, visual, etc)?
A company telling a story - even one confined to technology - helps differentiate it from the competition, and shows confidence and uniqueness in the market. Most importantly, it creates yet another opportunity to further the company's mission and values through an interesting medium that people will read/view/hear.
People buy from people. Highlighting the individual players involved in the company's technology story makes the company more transparent, human and approachable. Much more positive characteristics than the alternative, wouldn't you say?
And if you don't believe me, recent research from <a href="http://www.cocollective.com/" target="_blank">co:collective</a> shows that companies that advance their narrative through action and emphasize the creation of compelling and useful experiences are much more successful in terms of revenue and share price than those who choose to remain silent. End of story.

It's time the BOD, Technology, Sales, and Marketing Leadership all sit down to chart their storytelling strategy before it's too late. Our brains become more active when we hear or tell stories - which will no doubt activate your employees, customers, prospects and partners - for the greater good of the business.