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What happens when you accidentally give people a taste of Solutions Focus? | Paul

10/4/2017

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​I was running a two-day course in Facilitation Skills, teaching a bunch of tips and tools, especially those neat processes into which you can put pretty much any content.
 
This particular format was a series of rotating pairs. It was near the end of the programme, so I quickly made up a few questions which each set of paired partners could ask each other.
 

Improvisation Academy Advanced Facilitation Masterclass
The activity ran smoothly and the participants raced back to their chairs to make notes. ‘What were those questions we just asked?’, they demanded. ‘What do you remember them to be?’, I parried - still in facilitator mode.

It so happened that my questions were all flavoured with a solutions focus. That’s because SF is the way that I think, even though in terms of the format we were learning the wording of the questions was irrelevant...

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How coaching offers a way of learning in organisations full of experts

31/10/2016

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​If we already know how to do something, it appears that there’s nothing to learn. We are already expert, and in most organisations an Expert is a great thing to be. But if we want people to learn, then those people have to accept that there are things they don’t yet know.  
 
That’s relatively easy when it’s abstract - ‘oh yes, there’s always more to learn’ - but a lot trickier if what they don’t yet know is important stuff that would make them better at their job. That’s because it’s tantamount to admitting that they are not at the top of their game. And that is tough to do in a competitive arena where weakness is frowned upon or turned to your disadvantage.
 
If you want people to be curious, then ‘not-knowing’ has to be OK. How can that be encouraged in an instant-answer-now and an expertise-valued environment? ​
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Birching or getting back on track - how to deal with mistakes in a learning environment | Paul

23/5/2016

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Pointing out people’s mistakes is supposed to be conducive to learning, and is a mainstay of traditional education systems.
​
​In British schools until the mid-twentieth century, you could expect to be punished for mistakes. Not just for breaking school rules, but for getting things wrong academically; for example, if you got facts, sums or vocabulary wrong when you were supposed to know them by now. In Dickensian times, the punishment might be a harsh beating.

There is value in noticing when students make mistakes within a curriculum, as the errors may indicate the current level of learning. These assessments function as border indicators and alert the teacher and student as to where to put their attention for what to learn next.

This is the ‘trial-and-error’ method, in which under controlled conditions, you have a go, then see if your answer is right or wrong, close or distant; and you adjust accordingly to get back on track.

For that purpose, there’s no need for the mistake to carry any negative emotional charge. And few would now argue it’s a valid moment to reach for the birch, create a source of shame, embarrassment or any other special mention.  

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Instead, we can treat the errors lightly or gently; as an opportunity to have another go, to find a more accurate way of getting the problem solved, the phrase translated, or the facts right. 

The danger of these myths is that they encourage mistakes in the wrong contexts. And they blind us to the infinitely greater learning from getting things right. So let's learn to learn from success and getting things right.
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