Probably The Most Powerful Question In The World - by James Moore

The Frank Capra film It's a Wonderful Life eloquently asks the question of purpose and is a popular prescription by practitioners of film therapy, an evolution of story-telling as a form of healing. Stories help readers to make shape and find meaning out of their circumstances. The power of stories has been well known in many cultures and traditions throughout the world. It can be found in the oral history of Native Americans and in numerous religious tracts.  They can inspire and transform lives through spiritual empowerment. Stories can trace our history, give a sense of belonging and create our mythology. Films provide a kind of shorthand that connects us deeply and directly with their message. In my coaching practice I have regularly recommended The Diving Bell And The Butterfly to clients who are too stuck in their circumstances to see that they still have choices - and as a film addict I am a regular self-prescriber too.

 

Many years ago I was working as an ‘in-house’ consultant.  My remit was to review current practices and recommend ways of aligning the company’s systems and processes with its purpose. There are many parallels between organisational and personal behaviour and also between consulting and coaching. Companies are just as prone to follow the head rather than the heart and just as likely to become stuck due to limiting beliefs as people are. I embarked on a mission of discovery; wanting first to understand how the business operated and then ensure that we retained any existing processes of value. I questioned managers and board members and uncovered a level of attention to detail and bureaucracy that was almost obsessive. Not only were there rules for just about anything and everything, lots of them didn’t seem to make sense in the context of the company purpose. They had evolved with a strange self-serving logic all of their own. As I delved deeper into the organisation I found it hard to find anyone who could explain how the culture had become so entrenched.  I found it harder still to find those who were ready to let go. 

 

I empathised with the people I interviewed and was gradually drawn into their world. I became obsessed with trying to unravel the underpinning logic of what had gone before and frustrated when I couldn’t find one, spending ages collating and analysing data, looking for trends and deeper meaning. Then I watched Apocalypse Now and noticed that my own mission within the organisation was reflected in Captain Willard’s journey into the heart of darkness. The turning point for me was when Willard finally confronts Colonel Kurtz and is questioned about his brief.

 

Willard: They told me that you had gone totally insane, and that your methods were unsound.

Kurtz: Are my methods unsound?

Willard: I don't see any method at all, sir.

 

I had a sudden realisation that many of the processes I had been reviewing were unsound and I had been wasting my time in trying to unravel them. There was no physical figure to assassinate, no Captain Kurtz, just an out-dated culture where control had stifled creativity and growth. The next morning I pinned Willard’s words above my desk and scrapped the analysis. I started with a fresh piece of paper and decided to create something new that was aligned with the company purpose. Energised by my revelation and released from the past, I achieved more in that day than the previous month. 

 

When you think about your life purpose, do you look backwards at what has gone before? Do you over-analyse mistakes? Do you look for hidden meaning in the things you don’t want? A new study has found that human heart cells renew themselves throughout our entire life. Writing your life purpose can be an act of renewal too. It is the opportunity to start afresh, to map out how you want to be in the rest of your life and to go forward and create it.