I'm kicked to present the 25th conversation of the Story Rules Podcast, with Nitin Seth.
“Storytelling is not about glibness. Storytelling is not about verbosity. Storytelling is not just about your confidence or doing it though it is an important aspect of it. Storytelling is fundamentally about the clarity of what you are saying." I often say that ‘data is the new oil, storytelling is the new refinery’. Well, this book opened my eyes to the multiple layers of refining that data has to go through before it is ready for the storytelling step. In the book, Nitin explains why managing the data explosion is so challenging and what large firms should do to win in the data-first world we live in. He proposes a ‘Unified Solutions Framework’ – a 13-point plan for success. The comprehensive framework covers several diverse aspects including customer problem definition, managing multi-source data, building your data stack, data security and quality, data culture and managing data talent. Nitin knows what he’s talking about. After leading the Mckinsey Knowledge Centre and Fidelity International’s operations in India, he was the COO at Flipkart. Currently, as the co-founder and CEO of Incedo Inc., a Data and AI consulting firm, Nitin works with leaders of several Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies to help them navigate the data-first world. In this conversation, we dive into three broad themes. One, Nitin’s own journey as a storyteller. He starts with an evocative IIT-Delhi story when he roused a bunch of lazy hostelites into cheering for their badminton team (just like the movie Chichhore!). He speaks about his work convincing sceptical audiences - from union workers to board members – at large companies like Tata Steel. Nitin also shares a ‘failure story’ of when his pitch to a senior internal audience at McKinsey did not work, and what he learnt from that experience. Two, we move on to the contents of the book itself. Data is a paradox – most organisations want more of it, but don’t know what to do with the amount they have. They are spending hundreds of millions of dollars, if not more on data transformation projects, but the impact of the spend is questionable. Nitin cuts through all the noise and brings some clarity to this messy world of data. Some of his key insights are Finally, we speak about the implications of the book for data professionals. Nitin speaks about the need for data professionals to develop 'T-Shaped' capabilities. Depth in one or two specific areas of data (for instance an industry like insurance or a function like CRM) and breadth in horizontal skills like problem-solving and storytelling. Personally, I was also mighty impressed by how Nitin worked outside his main office hours from 10 pm to 1 am for 3 years to find the time to write this book. I’m sure you’ll walk away with several rich insights and ideas after listening to this fascinating conversation. Let’s dive in. You can enjoy my conversation with Nitin at your favourite podcast location: Browser Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podcast Addict | Pocket Casts Happy listening! Further links: If you find the content valuable, please rate and review this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you listen to it (links above). It’ll help others like you discover these insights! This podcast was hosted by me, Ravishankar Iyer. Audio editing by Kartik Rajan, transcript editing by Aniruddha Nerli and all-round support by Sanket Aalegaonkar. Thanks, Ravi PS: Got this email as a forward? Get your own copy here. Access this email on a browser or share this email on Whatsapp, LinkedIn or Twitter Hello! You are getting this email as a part of the 'Story Rules on Saturday' Newsletter. To get your own copy, sign up here. |
A Storytelling Coach More details here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravishankar-iyer/
This week was special - we had the first edition of our Pune Knowledge on Tap talk series on the evening of 27th March. Prof. Pradeep Apte of the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics regaled an audience of about 60 listeners with fascinating tales about the history of alcohol brewing - including many examples from ancient Indian history! Audience waiting in anticipaton for the talk to start! Our next talk is by biologist Dr. Siddhesh Kamat and slated to be held on 24th April...
Alright, the book's final manuscript has been sent, warts and all, to the publisher! Wish me luck for the next phase of the process. As a celebration (not that I needed a reason), I am attending an event called IPA Diwas on the 22nd of March. It is exactly as it sounds - a meetup where many microbreweries in Pune will showcase their IPAs. 15 breweries. 22 IPAs. One happy customer. Cannot wait! And now, on to the newsletter. Welcome to the hundred and eighth edition of '3-2-1 by Story Rules'....
Last weekend I attended the lovely wedding of an ex-colleague in Delhi. It was great fun catching up with old friends and sharing evergreen stories. It was also lovely to experience pleasant weather in Delhi! Pune is burning - with temperatures in the high 30s... summer is well and truly here. I'm also doing some final edits to the book, after a conversation with my editor. I'm trying to bring the word count a bit lower, smoothening out the language in parts, and changing some images... The...