A Storytelling Coach More details here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravishankar-iyer/
This week I'm profiling a short but impactful book on the power of coaching.
a. 'The Coaching Habit' by Michael Bungay Stanier
Let's face it - we love giving advice.
We love it when someone comes to us with a problem and asks us for our opinion. Heck, even if they don't come with a problem, our uber-helpful mind is itching to convert the conversation into an unsolicited advice-giving session.
Here's how Michael Bungay Stanier, the author of The Coaching Habit, puts it:
But that does not help. At least with adults, who learn and change best when they figure out the solution by themselves. Which is the whole mantra of the 'coaching approach' to teaching something... (It is something I personally struggle with by the way).
Now, there are several other books on coaching. Some of the well-known ones include the bestselling 'Trillion Dollar Coach' (on Silicon Valley legend, Bill Campbell) and Paddy Upton's 'Barefoot Coach'.
But while these are essentially stories of these coaches, with a ton of coaching advice blended in, they aren't written as a coaching manual per se.
'The Coaching Habit' is.
I came to know about this book from Gwyn Wansbrough's excellent Twitter feed and newsletter. (Side note: Gwyn runs a course called Breakthrough Facilitation, which I attended earlier this year. It has significantly changed my approach to training and facilitation!).
As soon as I started reading the book, I realised - OMG, this is one of those rare books which are simple yet deeply insightful and practical.
For instance, Michael is clear that he does not want coaching to be seen as a high-stakes, scheduled half-yearly event:
How do you do that? Michael makes it really simple and distils it to just seven key questions that you need to understand and use as a coach:
What are the seven questions? Well I don't want to reveal them to you - it's fun to discover the questions for yourself.
But let's take an example of one of the most powerful questions: the AWE question or 'And What Else?"
Here's another example of a simple, practical tip: Avoid the 'Why' question.
This was surprising for me, because we are always taught to deep-dive into the root cause - the 5 Whys, as it were.
Instead, Michael suggests a different approach:
The book is filled with several such simple yet powerful examples and questions. Questions that can really open up your conversations. Questions that can lead you to the nub of any complex issue. And most importantly, questions that can leave your audience feeling empowered and energised.
Holding back the temptation to give advice (especially when someone is asking for it) is one of the most difficult skills to build in life. This book is a great manual in how to do so.
a. Technocracy and the Space Age by Jason Crawford
The wonders of space travel and discovery (e.g. the James Webb telescope) are one of humankind's greatest achievements... with NASA being a shining example of the power of sustained innovation and impact.
Or is it really? According to this short post, the reality is a bit more complicated.
In the piece, thinker Jason Crawford shares a critique of how NASA lost its way, especially after the hubris of the 1960s and 70s.
Jason quotes an author called Walter McDougall who wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning 'The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age'. McDougall chronicles some of the promises of the heady late 20th century.
Needless to add, none of that happened. McDougall opined that NASA lost its way due to multiple issues - including a reduction in its budget and intense political meddling.
McDougall lamented in 1997:
To this, Jason adds, with a dramatic flourish:
a. Burning Questions about the Future of Media: on the Plain English podcast with Derek Thompson
I'm a fan of Derek Thompson's clear thinking and articulation of key global issues on his insightful podcast, 'Plain English' (and his writings for The Atlantic).
In this episode, he interviews two media experts on the future of entertainment - from movie theaters to streaming platforms to the social media sensation that is TikTok.
Here's how he sets up the episode's 'burning questions':
So movie theatres seem to be alive and kicking... or are they? And have we already seen 'peak streaming'?
Fascinating questions with some thought-provoking discussion in the episode.
The reality of ever-increasing expectations!
The extract from Agassi's book, 'Open':
Earth should be called Water
If you too, like me, are sick and tired of 'gyaan-babas' on Twitter giving you the secret of success in life, follow Chris Bakke for some much needed comic-relief!
"We live in the world our questions create"
- David Cooperrider, sourced from 'The Coaching Habit'
I took some time catching up with this (classy?) 'mass' entertainer. These movies follow a standard template - an invincible, can-do-it-all hero. A commanding, fear-inducing villain. A TON of fight scenes. A predictably 'happy' ending. And oh, an absence of logical coherence.
But I actually liked several aspects of this super-stylish thriller. First up, it is fast paced, with some slick editing. There's also a great headline cast with the OG Kamal supported by the peerless Fahadh Faasil and Vijay Sethupati (catch the latter two in the stunning Super Deluxe if you haven't yet).
But what I enjoyed the most was Anirudh Ravichander's pulsating music. It's a great watch just for that bass-heavy background score.
Watch it in the original Tamil (with subtitles) preferably.
And the next time you start a major initiative at work, or heck, even a simple weekly meeting, you can begin with the now-viral invocation:
Aarambikalangala?
That's it folks: my recommended reads, listens and views for the week.
Take care and stay safe.
Ravi
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A Storytelling Coach More details here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravishankar-iyer/
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