Use the story as a shared starting point

Adapt the example to the audience without changing what the evidence can support.

A narrative is not a script to repeat unchanged. Choose the part that helps the audience understand the work, use plain language, and distinguish an intended direction from a verified result. In this fictional Northstar example, a team update can focus on one handoff rather than restating the entire story.

A practical sequence for adapting a message

  1. 1

    Identify the audience and purpose

    Decide what the reader needs to understand, decide, or do after reading.

  2. 2

    Select a relevant theme

    Choose navigate, connect, or coordinate based on the work being discussed.

  3. 3

    Choose support that fits

    Use a source checked for context, date, permission, and relevance; otherwise frame the point as an intention or question.

  4. 4

    Adapt the wording

    Use the audience's working language and keep the core meaning intact.

  5. 5

    Review the final claim

    Check that the message does not imply broader results, certainty, or reach than its evidence supports.

Worked example: strategy to team update

A fictional handoff from a shared story to a local conversation

Colleagues around a whiteboard covered in sticky notes
Core message

Start with the shared story

“We are working to make collaboration simpler so people can find context and move work forward together.”

  • Shared meaning: simplify collaboration.
  • No claim that a performance outcome has already occurred.
Two colleagues talking at a desk
Local adaptation

Focus the team update

“For our next handoff, let's put the request, current decision, and next role in the same brief. We can review whether the brief contains the context the receiving team needs.”

  • Theme: make work easier to navigate.
  • Evidence check: review the brief and the receiving team's feedback before describing an outcome.

Keeping the narrative useful

When should wording be revisited?

Revisit it when the intended direction changes, a supporting source is superseded, or the wording no longer reflects the work being described. Check the source before retaining a factual claim.

How should a team flag an evidence gap?

State which message needs support, what source is missing or uncertain, and what would need to be checked. Until then, frame the point as an intention or open question.

What if current wording no longer reflects the story?

Use wording that accurately describes the present context, note the proposed change for the narrative owner to review, and avoid repeating a claim that cannot be supported.