Saving Private Ryan
Return With the Elixir (What Comes Next?)
Cut to the Chase:
The team recognizes how they have collectively changed, reflecting on the shared insights, mindset shifts, and new practices gained through the work.
The team clearly identifies the “elixir” they now possess, naming the concrete skills, processes, and capabilities earned through their collective growth.
The team demonstrates the impact of their learning on the broader community and looks ahead, applying new practices to create systemwide improvement while setting up what comes next.
There comes a point in every initiative when we ask ourselves, “What has this all been for?” We think about all that we have accomplished and how far we have come. We measure that against the upheaval, challenges, and losses that we have endured along the way. That is the central theme of the war epic Saving Private Ryan.
The movie opens with its heart wrenching sequence of the D-Day Normandy Invasion. For 30+ minutes Spielberg takes us right into the gory action of Omaha Beach as the American troops land in France. The carnage is brutal and the storytelling is prolific. With limited dialogue we immediately care about these unnamed characters as the scramble from challenge to challenge trying to survive a second longer. With shear grit and determination the Americans take the beach and overwhelm the German defenders. The audience can finally breath.
The characters take stock over what had been gained and what had been lost. They begin to strategize what they have to do next. However in the aftermath of the battle, the US discovers that a soldier named ‘Ryan’ had died. This triggers an age-old rule that no one family should have to lose all of it’s sons to the war effort. Thus launching our characters onto their quest to save the last living Private Ryan.
Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) and his team have to deal with the dramatic question of the entire film: Is it worth risking the lives of so many to save just one man? The answer will become the ELIXIR, the lasting legacy of our work.
It is the role of every leader to keep their eyes fixed on the bigger picture…The Whole Picture. Throughout every project we are constantly confronted by challenges. We are tempted by distractions. It is easy to lose sight of what we are working towards. But what every leader needs to remember is that if we lose sight of ourselves throughout the work then we haven’t succeeded at all. Let’s explore how we write a good final scene of your initiative so that our work outlives the ‘project’ and sets us up for future success.
1. Show the Hero Returning Changed
Through the battle of any change, it is very easy for people to be resistant to it. No one really wants to be bothered. And even if they see the cause as worthy they can’t bring themselves to justify the effort that is required. We often have to deal with conversations like this clip…
When we do make it through the slog of an initiative we must make sure that people see that that energy was worth it. This means taking time to reflect on what they learned together, naming the mindset shifts that emerged, and recognizing the new practices they now use with confidence. When teams articulate these shared changes they build collective ownership of the progress made. This shared recognition reinforces that the initiative had real impact and that the team is stronger, more aligned, and better equipped for what comes next.
2. Present the Elixir Clearly
As the team recognizes how they have collectively changed, the next step is to clearly identify the concrete “elixir” they now possess. These are the specific capabilities, insights, and strengths gained through the work. Rather than allowing the learning to remain abstract, the leader helps the group name exactly what they earned together. By making these gains explicit and grounding them in real examples, the team sees that their transformation is not just emotional or conceptual but practical and powerful. Presenting the elixir clearly ensures that everyone understands the tangible value of their collective growth and can confidently carry it forward into the next phase of work.
In our film, Captain Miller shares why he believes this mission is worth it by reflecting on the men that he is lost and what they have been fighting for.
3. Demonstrate Its Impact on the Community
With the team’s transformation visible and the elixir clearly identified, the next step is to show how this new capability makes an immediate impact on the broader community. This means putting the learning into action in ways that others can feel. Strengthening routines across campuses, improving support for teachers, enhancing communication with families, or elevating the quality of instructional experiences for students. When the community experiences the benefits of the team’s growth, the work becomes more than an internal achievement. It becomes a catalyst for systemwide improvement. As these new practices begin to take root, the leader also helps the team look forward, connecting the elixir to what comes next. They name the opportunities now unlocked, the challenges the team is newly equipped to tackle, and the initiatives that will build on this foundation. In doing so, they transform the end of the current effort into the beginning of a new chapter.
This is embodied in the movie’s final moments when a dying Captain Miller connects with Private Ryan.
He shares that it is Private Ryan’s responsbility to earn all of the sacrifice that was put into his rescue. This then transforms back to the old man in the first scene of the movie. He is flanked by his family (who wouldn’t have existed without their sacrifice). Old Ryan breaks down hoping that he has become a good man and that he did in fact earn it.
The Elixir is the thing that outlives the work in front of us. It is the learning that we take with us that helps us gear up for the next mission (to make the next improvement). In my role as an education consultant one of my metrics of success that I measure a project’s health is its forward momentum. Even if it is a small victory…does it build to something else? If it does then we have succeeded, if it doesn’t then we didn’t.
Next week, we will conclude our exploration of The Hero’s Journey with one film to apply it all together. Then we will start a new series as we begin to talk about what is next…
Post-Credit Scenes:
What evidence do you see that your team thinks, collaborates, or behaves differently now than when this initiative began, and how might you help them recognize that growth?
If you had to name the one or two concrete capabilities your team gained from this work, what would they be, and how can you make those gains visible and transferable?
Where can your team apply these new capabilities right away to benefit the broader community, and how does that application set the stage for what comes next?