EMERGE - Coaching & The Cynefin Model
The other day I attended a workshop on coaching . During the workshop, participants were split into twos based on their ability (or non-ability) to tie a tie and were then asked to coach the other person in how to tie a tie. Part of the point of the exercise was around the fact that coaching someone on how to tie a tie is in fact very difficult. We immediately want to tell, or demonstrate how to do it. This got me thinking about coaching and its relationship with Dave Snowden’s Cynefin model for managing complexity . Just to quickly go through what coaching is. Coaching is a discipline whereby a coach asks an individual questions to help them to work through problems that they are having. The coach is not the subject matter expert, the coachee is. The coach does not advise or offer suggestions to the individual, but rather draws out from them what is already within them. Now for the Cynefin model. The word Cynefin is welsh, and means “The place of your multiple