The Directors' Cut: David Taylor on... synchronicity and the way to work...

The first involves pure chance where there seems to be no particular significance in the coincidental events.

The second type of coincidence is when the event seems to be full of significance. For example, you may be looking for an out of print book and you see it on your neighbour's bookshelf the following week. Or you are keen to speak with a business peer and an hour later they phone you.

Carl Jung labelled such events as "synchronicity". The type of event may seem to the outside world to be meaningless chance, but to the person who experiences it, the opposite is true and the event is full of meaning.

In leadership and personal development circles, it has become a hot topic, driven largely by the success of James Redfield's publishing phenomenon, The Celestine Prophecy.

Events in themselves have no meaning, other than the meaning we put on them. So it is our interpretation of reality that counts, and we do this by the quality of the questions we ask ourselves.

Our subconscious mind is programmed to answer the questions we ask it. If we suffer delays on a project and ask ourselves, "Why does every project I work on always fail?" our subconscious mind will seek out all of the evidence to support this, and will have no hesitation to immediately fill our mind, body and very being with scores of negative evidence to support this belief. If, on the other hand, we ask ourselves a more empowering question, such as "How does this event help us to move forward, to achieving our goal?" we will receive a more helpful and positive response.

I believe in synchronicity at three levels. On a basic level, it happens to all of us, and we need to look out for it happening. This level is a reflection that all of our lives are interconnected in some way, and our reaction to these events is usually one of amazement, disbelief, and feeling good. These events happen all around us, every day.

On the next level down, it is linked to the strength of our beliefs, convictions and certainty. I firmly believe that life stands aside for those who know where they are going, and when we as individuals, teams or companies are absolutely clear, focussed and certain of what we are going to achieve, events will conspire to help us.

This will happen automatically, for two reasons. Firstly because success really does breed success - when a project team is together, as one, and driving forward they will remove barriers, leap hurdles and attract the resources they need. Secondly, because when we know where we are going, we will always be looking out for events, people and support to help us get there.

Isn't it strange that, in our culture, we are more than happy to believe in negative self-fulfilling prophecies, while being less inclined to accept the positive parallels.

There is a famous story of two shoe salesmen, who travel to a far flung country. They call their respective offices after a day. The first says: "They have never even heard of shoes here, let alone worn them, I am coming home tomorrow." The second: "They have never even heard of shoes here, let alone worn them, send me everything you've got."

The deepest level of synchronicity is when we simply expect such events to happen, as part of our everyday lives. This is the most challenging to accept, however people who talk about experiencing this third level can provide scores of examples that happen to them every single day. And yet those who do not believe in it experience none, on any day. Now there's a clue.

A clear, compelling vision, combined with total belief in its achievement, and action, will be enough to open your eyes to the synchronicity that is already happening around you, in your career, project and personal lives.

It is interesting to look across many IT departments, companies and business in general. Without exception those with a clear vision, and positive certainty, almost always succeed, and those who see life as a roulette wheel, or each day as a disaster, almost always fail. Whether that is evidence, depends on what you believe, of course.

Over the last two years I have become a total and absolute believer in synchronicity, and its power. I now firmly believe that life may not always turn out as you want it, but it will always turn out as you expect. However, if that all sounds a little too far fetched, a touch too esoteric for you, then I close by reassuring you completely. If you choose not to believe in it, I guarantee to you it will never happen.