The promised land

Today is Martin Luther King’s birthday. He deserves celebrating for lots of well-known reasons: his championing of non-violent protest in the face of violence; his leadership of the Civil Rights Movement; victories for equality in America. But today I want to celebrate him for something else, something less obvious. Something I believe every business can learn from.

About five years ago we made a short animation about how visual or graphic information makes learning or memorising a speech easier. Its subject matter was King’s famous speech ‘The promised land’, in which he uses and repeats three powerful ideas: landscape, journey and vision. It’s based on the Israelites’ plight and the vision God shared with Moses on the mountain. In King’s speech, the future is an America where all people are equal regardless of creed or colour: ‘And He has allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I have looked over.
And I have seen the promised land.’ In fact, these are fundamental themes in all powerful stories we hear about change, ambition and progress. And more people engage with stories that use these themes. 

When I look back at the best work we’ve done for clients in the last five years – strategy maps for The Crown Estate and Land Securities, or helping win bids worth over ￡300 million – they’ve all employed the same themes: a clear vision, a clear understanding of the business landscape, and a narrative about the organisation’s journey forward. That’s what makes our Strategy maps so compelling, and that’s what business leaders can learn from Martin Luther King.