Red Tulip Press: Five Things to Know Volume 1, Issue 3
Welcome back to the Red Tulip Press! It’s time for your weekly installment of “Five Things to Know!”
Here are this week’s topics:
TOPIC ONE: THE “GROW” COACHING MODEL
The GROW coaching model was introduced in the late 1980s by Sir John Whitmore (1937-2017), a pioneer and thought leader in the leadership development space. Interestingly, he began his career as a successful race driver in British and European racing circuits in the 1950s and 1960s. After retiring from the racing world, he became interested in the psychology of performance and is credited with coining the team “performance coaching.” He wrote several books on coaching and leadership, the most well-known of which is Coaching for Performance, first published in 1992. This book first introduced the GROW model. Let’s dive in and learn more about it.
The Explanation
The GROW model is a framework designed primarily for use in guiding coaching conversations. Let’s look at each element of the acronym and how they relate to one another.
G - Goal
According to the model, any coaching session should begin with a clear goal in mind. This could be anything from a defined performance goal, to a problem that needs to be solved, to a key decision that needs to be made. Establishing a goal provides a foundation and focus for the session or conversation. Many experts in the coaching field recommend using the “SMART” framework for goal-setting (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound) to define the goal, but depending on the situation it may or may not be appropriate. The primary purpose of this element is to establish clarity and a common direction for the conversation; however, it’s possible that as the conversation progresses, the goal may evolve or change as other, hidden goals or motivators are revealed.
R - Reality
This stage of the model is all about examining the current state as it relates to the stated goal. Doing so helps define how close or how far one may be from the goal, and challenges individuals to examine their feelings and motivations behind the desire to reach the goal. By progressing through this stage, the person on the receiving end of the coaching conversation should be able to enhance their own self-awareness, including their values related to the goal, any limiting beliefs or obstacles that may exist, and what actions or steps they may have already taken toward reaching the goal.
O - Options
In this step, the primary objective is to empower the individual being coached to identify options and strategies that they can use toward achieving the stated goal. Participants are asked to be creative and brainstorm openly, without limitation. Next, these options are shaped, sorted, and prioritized through guiding questions, asking individuals to imagine the outcomes of each, what advantages and disadvantages exist, what obstacles might be in the way, and what next steps might be taken to move forward on each option.
W - Will (or Way Forward)
After sorting through and clarifying the available options, this final step asks the individual to identify a clear next step or plan of action to begin closing the gap between reality and goal. This involves getting highly specific about how, when, and with whom the next step will be taken, along defining what success in this next step looks like. The individual may also identify potential obstacles and make a plan for addressing these. Finally, the participant is asked to make a commitment to taking this next step, and a time will often be scheduled for the future to review progress and continue with further steps toward the goal.
Variations on the Model
With an almost 40-year model, certain updates and variations are to be anticipated. Some of the most common include:
The Synthesis
I’ve always found this model appealing due to its simplicity and underlying logic. The acronym itself, unlike many, is easy to remember and each step of the model progresses in a clear and logical order. In particular, the focus on establishing an objective, honest, and clear-eyed view of the current state before defining a path forward is a critical and often overlooked step both in coaching and more broadly in the world of change management, so its emphasis in the GROW model is highly valuable.
However, while the model may make natural sense, its application runs the risk of introducing rigidity to the coaching process. Although Whitmore himself cautioned against using the model in such a way, it’s all too easy for less experienced managers and leaders to fall into the trap of treating this model as rote, leading to the potential for stilted, overly formulaic, and ultimately unproductive coaching conversations.
Ultimately, though, if you find yourself in a situation where you need or want to have a coaching conversation with someone, this model is undoubtedly the best place to start. Due to its longevity, there a number of resources, including Whitmore’s book, available to help new and aspiring coaches and leaders make the most of the model and apply it practically in the real world.
The Nutshell
The GROW coaching model is a well-stablished, practical, and easily applicable framework to guide both new and experienced leaders, coaches, and managers in holding productive, focused, and motivating conversations to help individuals and organizations alike improve performance and outcomes. The model has proven its staying power over the decades and is well worthy of study.
Further Reading
TOPIC TWO: THE 4 VALUES OF AGILE
I’ve been fortunate enough to have received a crash course in the Agile mindset and methodologies over the past six months or so. And, contrary to my prior beliefs, I’ve learned that being “Agile” isn’t just for the tech folks! Agile is for everyone in an organization, and while the values and principles of Agile may have had their roots in software development, they truly are universally applicable. Like change management, there is so much to talk about with Agile that I have to limit myself on where to start. Today we’ll go through the 4 Agile values as outlined in the original Agile Manifesto, written in 2001 by a group of 17 developers on a ski retreat who set out to craft a better way of delivering value.
The Explanation
Above, we see a snapshot of the Agile values as they appear on the Agile Manifesto website, still extant (and unchanged) since 2001. Before we look at the values individually, I’d like to direct your attention to the sentence at the bottom - “...while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.” The innovators of Agile didn’t seek to do away with how things had been done in the past; rather, they acknowledged the value inherent in them and simply sought to add value with subtle, yet powerful shifts in mindset. Keep that in mind as we walk through each of the values below, that these are not intended to be binary choices, but rather harmonious blends, rooted in the past while looking toward the future.
Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools
This value is all about prioritizing people and recognizing the value inherent in person-to-person communication. Individuals should be empowered to speak openly and transparently in a psychologically safe environment, setting the stage for productive and uplifting interactions within and among teams that set the stage for innovative thinking. We still need processes and tools, but they should only be used to the extent that they add structure, focus, and direction to the primacy of human interaction.
Working Software over Comprehensive Documentation
This value is easy to skip over for the non-tech folks among us because it contains the word “software.” However, if you replace “software” with “product” or “services” or “outcomes” or anything that applies better to your line of work, you’ll quickly see how this value applies. This is where the concept of “agility” truly comes into play. How often do we over-focus on planning and thorough documentation rather than just experimenting, building a prototype, a model, something small to test to see if it even works? This value places the focus on delivering value incrementally, building up to a larger holistic solution and iterating as we gain feedback from our customer or ultimate end user. We document what’s necessary in service of delivering value.
Customer Collaboration over Contract Negotiation
You’ll hear the words “customer centricity” in the Agile context quite often, and this is the value where we see this concept shining through. The Agile mindset asks us to remember that the the customer should be a collaborator, an integral part of the development of any product. Rigid, overly prescriptive contracts stifle the flow of creativity, innovation, and ultimately better solutions than stem from a spirit of true collaboration that places the customer’s needs and goals at the center.
Responding to Change over Following a Plan
Certainly my pet favorite as a change management practitioner, this value challenges us to embrace change, no matter when it occurs or under what circumstances, no matter the sunk costs or poor timing. We certainly don’t discard our plans, but we are willing to alter, modify, or throw them out entirely should the needs of the customer change. The good news is that by adopting a work cycle that is iterative and delivers value incrementally, making such pivots becomes far less disruptive.
The Synthesis
It’s interesting to me that while the Agile Manifesto is already over twenty years old, it still feels fresh and modern. I think this is because there are still many organizations and industries where the Agile mindset is seen as not applicable, when in fact it is universally applicable to any business endeavor (and maybe your life as well?) To truly “be” Agile requires a shift of mind, an openness to change, and the courage to face the complexities of today’s world. In the face of so much uncertainty, it’s all too easy to want to fall back on established tools, processes, methods, and ways of working, creating the illusion of control through rigorous bureaucracy and documentation. Not everyone has made the leap yet, which is why Agile still feels so new.
What I love about the Agile values is that they are so simple in theory, yet challenging in practice. Letting go of these established ways of working and establishing a cadence of iterative, incremental value delivery is not easy, and that’s just the “method” part of Agile! The mindset is even trickier to embed and requires a true cultural shift within organizations seeking to undertake such a transformation. The more you dig into these seemingly simple values, the more there is to discover - about yourself and your worldview, as well as that of your organization.
Similarly, exploring Agile ways of being and working presents endless opportunities for growth and learning. Closely connected to Agile is the concept of the learning organization, along with related disciplines like systems thinking, Lean thinking, and of course change management. Organizations that choose to embrace Agile are making an investment in endless growth potential, not just from their products and services, but from their arguably most precious resource - their people.
The Nutshell
Looking at the four values of Agile is just scratching the surface of this fascinating approach to value delivery, but it’s a great place to start. The values give us a clear and concise understanding of what the original signers of the Agile Manifesto sought to develop - a better way of working, centered around the customer, with one foot grounded in tradition and the other striding toward innovation.
Further Reading
TOPIC THREE: FIXED AND GROWTH MINDSET
First published in 2006, Carol Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success introduced the world to the two primary mindsets that we all possess to varying degrees—the fixed mindset and the growth mindset—and how these, more than innate talent or intelligence, influence our ability to succeed.
Broadly speaking, a “fixed” mindset is one in which we believe that our abilities, talent ,and intelligence are set in stone - they are inherent and we cannot change them. By contrast, a “growth” mindset is one in which we believe that we can develop, growth, and change ourselves through focused effort.
The cornerstone of Dweck’s research was a study conducted among high-school math students designed to demonstrate the influence of mindset on academic success. When students attended a workshop on how to cultivate a growth mindset, their performance and grades improved, showing that just developing an awareness of the brain’s capacity for growth can increase effort and achievement. Dweck’s studies also looked at the influence of praise on students, with a fascinating finding: those students who were praised as having a “fixed” quality (i.e., “You are so smart!”) actually performed worse than students who were praised for their efforts (i.e., “You worked so hard on that!”) The importance of praising effort over achievement or perceived “innate” abilities has since become a foundational piece of parenting advice.
Most of us tend to naturally lean toward one mindset over the other, both as the result of genetics and the environments in which we grew up. We all display tendencies toward both mindsets, depending on the situation. Cultivating a growth mindset is not always easy, but is a worthy endeavor both for ourselves and for those we parent, teach, or mentor. We can work to build our growth mindset muscles by regularly engaging in self-reflection, paying attention to our self-talk to identify “fixed-mindset” language and reframe it in a more positive and growth-oriented way. We can also strengthen our growth mindset by pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones, taking on new challenges and embracing failures and missteps as opportunities for learning. Finally, we can use the power of a simple word—”yet”—to put ourselves into ready-mode for growth. For example, changing from “I can’t do this!” to “I haven’t done this... yet.”
Further Reading
TOPIC FOUR: MARGINAL COST AND BENEFIT
Continuing from last week’s reintroduction to some basic topics in economics, I thought I’d get into a very brief overview of the concept of marginal analysis. This idea is, put very simply, a way of thinking about a decision or activity in terms of its “additional” (marginal) costs and benefits. Here are some brief definitions:
Broadly speaking, any time that we compare the marginal costs and benefits of a choice we are making, we are engaging in marginal analysis. If we perceive that there is a net benefit when we subtract the marginal cost from the marginal benefit, then logically we’ll want to proceed with the decision or activity. There are more specific applications of marginal analysis for businesses specifically seeking to achieve economies of scale and profit maximization, but that’s too much to get into today. We’ll likely explore those topics in a future newsletter. For now, we’ll leave it at this brief introduction to those key terms.
Further Reading
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/051815/what-difference-between-marginal-benefit-and-marginal-cost.asp#:~:text=Marginal%20benefits%20are%20the%20additional,the%20profits%20from%20increasing%20production.
TOPIC FIVE: NOWRUZ
This Tuesday marked the celebration of Nowruz, or the Persian or Iranian New Year. The festival, based on the Iranian solar calendar, coincides with the spring equinox and is rooted in the religion of Zoroastrianism. Today, it’s celebrated by several ethnic groups across Central Asia and the Middle East, including people in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, and more. Like other springtime holidays, such as Easter and Passover, that occur around the same time, it carries similar themes of growth and renewal. Customs around the holiday include cleaning one’s house, visiting friends and neighbors and giving gifts, planting trees, and setting up a ceremonial table, or haftseen, containing symbolic items and foods. So, Happy Nowruz to all who celebrate!
Further Reading: