Remember Back to the Future Part III? The one where a time-travelling DeLorean ends up in the Old West? Doc Brown’s still got his wild inventions. Marty’s still trying to make sense of it all. And somehow, a steam train ends up launching them back to the future. Those films are some of my favourites. They’re ridiculous. And also… kind of perfect.
And recently, my old-school thinking collided with some new tech to create something amazing (if I do say so myself). Not in a blockbuster kind of way; no hoverboards, no flux capacitors, but something that got me thinking about how wisdom and technology can work together. Not to speed things up… but to slow us down.
We live in a world that celebrates speed. Faster broadband, faster results, faster everything. Even in coaching and personal development, there’s this pressure to be 'transformed' by lunchtime and 'optimised' by Thursday.
Not everything worth knowing reveals itself quickly.
Some answers don’t arrive in a sprint, they show up on a slow walk through the wilds of our own inner landscape, muttering clues as they go. That’s where storytelling and metaphor come in. They don’t hand us the solution on a polished app screen. They offer us a compass, a weathered map, and a whisper of where to head next. And maybe a slightly odd-looking character pointing down an unfamiliar path saying, “You might want to take a look over there.”
It’s a bit like pairing an old cowboy philosopher with a very helpful robot. (Stay with me.) One holds the wisdom of dusty roads and quiet nights under the stars. The other remembers everything, asks the right questions, and never needs a coffee break.
Together they help us think differently. Whether it’s one-to-one, in teams, or in those moments where it’s just you and your thoughts, they create space. Space to pause. To reflect. To slow down enough to actually hear yourself.
That’s what technology can do when it’s used well - not to rush us, but to hold us. To support the kind of slow, meaningful exploration that storytelling and metaphor invite.
I’ve seen it again and again. Someone sits with a metaphor. A moment in time. A fictional voice that somehow says exactly what they didn’t know they needed to hear, and something clicks. The insight was already there. The space just needed creating.
So no, we might not have a time-travelling train. But we do have the opportunity to bring old wisdom forward into today’s world - and to use today’s tools to listen more deeply to ourselves and each other.
So maybe the future isn’t about speeding up. Maybe it’s about slowing down, with support.
And letting a little bit of old-world wisdom meet us right where we are. Even if it’s delivered by something part robot… and part cowboy.