Organisational Autobiography in 5 Chapters

Portia Nelson’s classic verse tracks our development, often painful, from a pattern of self-sabotaging behaviour to learning and independence. It seems appropriate in every season of life. Our learning is never complete; there are always new challenges presenting as we grow in maturity and experience. As I look at the current state of health and the status quo of healthcare in the UK. I’m struck by the idea that the system has been carefully crafted to ensure that we fall into a hole from which we cannot escape. Some years ago I suffered a life threatening illness and only survived due to the expert intervention of the NHS. A year later I was out of hospital, and notionally better, but my lifestyle was unchanged. In effect my behaviour was leading me to a further crisis from which I might not recover. Fortunately the lights came on in time for me to see where I was heading and allowed me to change direction. It has been my mission ever since to continue rolling back the covers on medical convention so that I can critically analyse proposed treatment plans and choose from a position of informed consent. This has massively informed my practice so that I’ve come to place Health Coaching as the pinnacle of the coaching terrain. It is now time to reflect this learning back into the organisational sector where my coaching journey began. In recent years I’ve come to observe organisational behaviour through the lens of a healthy human body. Many issues confronting organisations can be considered as extensions of illnesses that affect individuals. Facing existential crises the organisation can choose a new and healthy lifestyle or can abdicate responsibility and call in the consultants to ‘slash and burn’ their way to profitability. Just as the unrepentant cardiology patient can continue to dig his grave with his fork, so organisations can pull their cultural overcoat ever tighter in an attempt to deny responsibility. They can effectively ‘flat line’ their daily work in an atmosphere of fear and recrimination so that staff chase voluntary redundancy packages and early retirement from unrelenting workplace stress. Such behaviour relegates public sector organisations to exist on life support, but as Portia shows us, once we recognise the pitfalls we can choose to walk down a different street.