 Performance = Potential – Interference (Gallwey); Trust = Risk + Support (Covey). ‘Vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation’. If you’ve ever taught or learnt a foreign language, these words will sound very familiar to you. We could think of them as technical dimensions. They have an almost objective feel. The students I worked with in the Philippines last week have been taught well in English yet some still lacked confidence to use it. They were, at first, also unsure about how to navigate conversations with a person from the UK. We could call these psychological and cultural dimensions. Some were so preoccupied with doing it right that they struggled to do it at all. We opened the workshops by inviting the students to experiment with some simple ground rules: 1. Be willing to try. 2. It’s OK to make mistakes. 3. Support each other. 4. Any question is OK. Next, we introduced (playfully) that I would present a medal to every person who would come forward and speak at the front for the first time. I would not correct their English. I would simply reward their courage to do it. By the end of the first workshop, every student left proudly wearing a medal. By the end of the third workshop, every student took part enthusiastically in open group conversation. Taking a leaf from Timothy Gallwey’s research, we engaged the students in distractor topics (e.g. ‘Skin whitening in Asia’). The idea was to choose themes that the students would find interesting, provocative and meaningful. By focusing on the topic rather than on the language itself, the students became less self-conscious about their English and actually more fluent. In Gallwey’s terms, too much attention to performance can become an interference to performance. An overall approach? Open, relational warmth and positive reinforcement throughout: ‘What did well; Even better if.’ Now – a question: what are the lessons here for leadership, mentoring and coaching?
21 Comments
Inga Bielińska
9/11/2017 08:35:28 am
'I would simply reward their courage to do it.' what I take from your approach is to set clear guidelines what I am going to evaluate here. I think this way is crucial while developing absolute beginners at work. Sometimes it may be overwhelming and disastrous to get feedback on EVERYTHING at one time.
Nick Wright
9/11/2017 08:37:55 am
Hi Inga. I think that's a useful observation and reflection. Interestingly, at the second workshop, we posed a question along the lines of: 'What should be recognised and rewarded e.g. at school, at work, in Philippines society etc: effort, achievement, status, title, who you know or are related to etc.' It opened a very lively and creative debate!
Richard Simpson
9/11/2017 05:37:06 pm
Nick - what a great blog. I was inspired particularly by the idea that too much attention to performance becomes interference to performance. I always prefer oblique rather than direct approaches to achieving a preferred outcome but I'm forever out of synch with the rest of the world, it seems. Your humanity continues to shine through.
Nick Wright
9/11/2017 07:01:42 pm
Hi Richard and thanks for such encouraging feedback. I would love to hear some examples of 'oblique' approaches that you have used - could you share some here? I'm also intrigued by your comment, 'forever out of synch with the rest of the world.' Can you say more?
Jayne Harrison
9/11/2017 07:02:46 pm
Loving the Zander approach. He gave everyone an A Grade at start of the semester. Created better engagement and overall results. What might our world be like if we assumed everyone was an A grader? (From the book The Art of Possibility)
Nick Wright
9/11/2017 07:10:50 pm
Hi Jayne. I love that idea - and you have prompted me to buy a copy of Zanders' book! It reminds me of a close friend, a Franciscan priest, who tells people with deep conviction that they are children of God, loved deeply by God. Not that they must reform their lives to become children of God but that they are already so. It was through his message and his example that I decided to follow Jesus.
Devora Gila Berkowitz
9/11/2017 07:23:20 pm
What comes to mind (from the example about distractor topics) is the coach's role in sparking the client's potential through envisioning and even imagining. Asking questions such as "What if...", i.e. "What would you do if you weren't stuck right now?" helps them create possibility by distracting them from the place where they are stuck. Like the famous quote from Albert Einstein, "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." Thanks for the post, Nick.
Nick Wright
9/11/2017 07:30:27 pm
Thank you, Devora. That's an interesting idea - a kind of reframing. I think there are resonances here with DeBono's work on lateral thinking. If someone is talking about a difficult problem, he will invite them to, say, take a random object, talk about its descriptive and symbolic qualities - then return to the issue to see if it had sparked any fresh perspectives, insights and ideas for them.
Ron Edwards
13/11/2017 10:21:56 am
Devora: love your post. I took over an organization that the culture is stuck in the 1990's. the supervisors were never empowered and were never allowed to give their views. I have some talented employees, my struggle is getting them to think outside the box. I tell them that common sense is permitted. and I stole a phrase from a friend. "Don't bring me any dead cats." I can't do anything with a dead cat! bring me solutions and ideas. I ask them to talk about the situation in a group and think aloud. I also ask them to tell me their intent. They are slowly coming around.
Nick Wright
13/11/2017 10:24:13 am
Hi Ron. I once worked in a similar situation. A new leader started who, along with providing far greater degrees of freedom, encouragement and support than his predecessor, would say (with a warm smile), 'Don't bring me problems for solutions. Bring me solutions for approval.'
Jay Sriskanthan
10/11/2017 07:46:21 am
Thank you Nick for the thought provoking post.
Nick Wright
10/11/2017 07:47:15 am
Hi Jay. Thank you for the affirming feedback!
Fredrik Lundin
15/11/2017 10:43:33 am
The setting is more important than the actual content. That's my takeaway, thanks for sharing!
Nick Wright
15/11/2017 10:56:13 am
Thanks Fredrik. Perhaps we could say the setting is at least as important as the content? Your comment reminded me that we also disrupted the students' learning environment by changing their normal seating arrangements from conventional straight lines to small horseshoes of 3 seats each. This enabled a psychological shift away from conventional patterns of behaviour (e.g. 'not speaking in class') to curiosity and new possibilities.
Javier Corona Patricio
16/11/2017 08:28:52 am
Excelente !!!
Nick Wright
16/11/2017 08:29:38 am
Gracias, Javier! :)
Chris Jackson
16/11/2017 08:31:14 am
Three thoughts, Nick:
Nick Wright
16/11/2017 08:36:16 am
Hi Chris and thanks for sharing such insightful reflections. You comments reminded me of Perls' notion of experiment as creating a 'safe emergency', enabling a person to expand their awareness and experience...pushing at the edges...with support-as-needed. I really like your quotations from Blake and Perls and your reframing of Gallwey and Covey as 'Performance = Risk + Support'.
Maurice Adesina
20/1/2018 02:45:34 pm
Hi Nick, confidence -building and reward exercises work and are great when you understand and are in alignment with the culture - beliefs, values and norms - of the group, team or organisation. You mentioned the psychological and cultural dimension aspects, and with you being a foreigner coming from the UK. Coaching in such cases would be effective by starting with exploring and engaging the members in what could be called a 'dynamic inquiry' . Questions like: what is acceptable behaviour and what is frowned upon within the organisation? How are foreigners perceived in their culture? How do they relate to authority figures in general in their culture? The organisational culture in most cases, if not all, tends to be a subset of the national culture. For organisational change to occur and resonate, the changes have to respect deeply held beliefs and values and be endorsed by the organisational leader otherwise the change initiative will not be successful.
Nick Wright
20/1/2018 02:50:48 pm
Hi Maurice and thank you for expanding on the cultural dimensions with useful insights and questions. The cross-cultural arena is the area that I find most fascinating! You may find this website interesting, especially the 'country comparison tool', when working cross-culturally with people from different countries? https://www.hofstede-insights.com/ 17/11/2018 11:54:32 am
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Nick WrightI'm a psychological coach, trainer and OD consultant. Curious to discover how can I help you? Get in touch! 
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