today's coach - the fluent practitioner - a brand new skill set

THE

CONSULTANT COACH FACIL ITATOR

FLUENT P R A C T I T I O N E R

Copyright 2014 Tim Coburn All Rights Reserved

The FLUENT Practitioner

Definition In this context, the fluent practitioner is a consultant, coach or facilitator who works easily with their client’s language, ways of talking and conversational practices and who readily adapts their own language, way of talking and conversational practice to jointly create improvements that last

fluent adjective

1  the ability to speak a foreign language easily and accurately

2  the ability to move smoothly, effortlessly and elegantly

3  the ability to think of many diverse and creative ideas quickly

Your language becomes mine…

My language becomes yours…

And a new language, previously unknown to both of us, becomes ours…

In practice


When working successfully as a fluent practitioner…

That’s the FLUENT practitioner


Who is this useful for?

Consultants, coaches or facilitators who work…

With

Individuals

With

Organisations

With

Groups

and Teams

…to improve engagement, capability and performance.


Useful in many roles

The skills of a fluent practitioner are useful in many roles

Directors and Managers

Professional Specialists

HR Business Partners

Management & OD Consultants

Coaches and Mentors

Learning Facilitators


How does it work?

Knows the context

Sets the direction

Is resourceful

Wants to be effective

Leads improvement

Is accountable for their results

Is fluent in the language of the system they know

Asks questions and listens

Takes their lead from the client

Structures the process

Provides ideas and suggestions

Supports improvement

Is accountable for their effectiveness

Is fluent in the language of the system they know

THE PRACTITIONER THE CLIENT

Equal partners

Both bring expertise

Share knowledge and understanding

Learn from each other

Work together

Client decides

Make progress by learning a little of each other’s language

THE RELATIONSHIP

A fluent practitioner works with these general assumptions

Everything takes place in language and conversation – it always has. Fluent practitioners work with this more than those who don’t


FLUENT Practitioners attach a high importance to language

Language and conversation are the primary resources for getting things done

Language is local – each organisation, function, team and individual has a language, vocabulary and way of talking all of their own

The ability to work in the client’s local language is critically important to the practitioner’s effectiveness and the client’s success

For improvements to work, clients need to create them in conversation, in language that’s meaningful and relevant to them

When fluent practitioners provide an idea, they expect their client to translate it into their own language so it makes sense to them, locally

To implement plans successfully, clients need to be skilful in holding effective conversations because talking is the way they things get done

1

2

3

4

5

6

They work with these specific assumptions, too…


Working with the client’s language is usually unfamiliar

Organisations are human systems. Take any organisation you know and think about the language, vocabulary and stories that matter to them – and nobody else

History

Technical and professional terms

Turns of phrase

Idiom

Metaphor

Vernacular

Gossip

Job titles

Vision, Purpose

Strategy, Values Success stories

Standards and procedures

Acronyms Initiatives and major

projects

Products and services

Our language, our words, our stories.. It’s the way we

make sense and how we do things together

Letting go of our own language isn’t easy

4 Box Grids

Triangles and Pyramids

3 Circles

Star Models

Change Management Roadmaps

People can be attached to what they know… and the language in which it is stated - especially consultants!

Tried and tested

Based on research

Validated by experience

Familiar and reliable

Approved as ‘professional expertise’ by training, qualifications etc


We get attached to the language of our knowledge because it is often: Examples…

FIXED FLUENT

FLUENT

Am I able to put the language of my own knowledge ‘at risk’ so that I might understand, learn and work in and with my client’s?

Am I able to judge the relevance, meaning and

usefulness of the language of my

client’s knowledge against their

criteria, not mine?

From certainty to doubt

In order to work in our client’s language, we have to suspend and sometimes entirely give up the certainty we have in our own. In this way, working with a sense of doubt becomes much more productive

ORIENTATION TO MY OWN KNOWLEDGE

ORIENTATION TO MY CLIENT’S KNOWLEDGE

certainty

doubt


YES

YES

NO

NO

He is quick, thinking in clear images; I am slow, thinking in broken images.

He becomes dull, trusting to his clear images; I become sharp, mistrusting my broken images.

Trusting his images, he assumes their relevance; Mistrusting my images, I question their relevance.

Assuming their relevance, he assumes the fact, Questioning their relevance, I question the fact.

When the fact fails him, he questions his senses; When the fact fails me, I approve my senses.

He continues quick and dull in his clear images; I continue slow and sharp in my broken images.

He in a new confusion of his understanding; I in a new understanding of my confusion.

Why doubt matters

In Broken Images

by Robert Graves

Photo credit: The Poetry Foundation


FIXED FLUENT

Implication

If we want to work in the language of our client’s knowledge, we have to become fluent in it as well as in our own


I remain attached to what I know and the language that makes sense to me

I become fluent in what my client knows

and the language that makes sense

to them

Found in me – it’s what I know Made between us – it’s what we know

Objective – it’s the truth Contextual – it’s what we agree to be true

Universal and enduring – it works everywhere Local and changeable – it works here, for now

This has implications for practitioners…

FLUENT Practitioners work with a new view of what knowledge is

From knowledge as…

FIXED FLUENT

To knowledge as…


‘Acting on’ the client and their situation ‘Joining with’ the client and their situation

Applying general knowledge Working with local knowledge

As a detached and certain expert As an involved and curious participant

With energy, effort and action-taking In language, conversation & meaning-making

And there’s a body of knowledge for this…

And it changes our view of what a practitioner does

From the Practitioner as… To the Practitioner as…


FIXED FLUENT

NARRATIVE IDEAS

CONSTRUCTIONIST IDEAS

SYSTEMIC IDEAS

Narrative ideas guide the FLUENT practitioner to see the organisational story (past, present and future) and ensure that new projects reflect, support and extend critical narrative elements of purpose, vision, values, strategy etc. Improvements involve enabling the creation or authorship of new story-lines in which employees feel capable, confident and engaged to play their part.

Constructionist ideas guide the FLUENT practitioner to see all aspects of the organisation as created and sustained in language, conversation and other forms of social interaction. Improvements involve the social construction of new language, new meaning and new conversational practices to embed and sustain ‘who we are’ in ‘what we say’ and ‘how we talk’.

Systemic ideas guide the FLUENT practitioner to see the organisation as a human system in which people interact on the basis of beliefs they hold about their roles and relationships. Improvements call for changes in these parts of the system for new and better forms of behaviour to emerge.

It’s supported by a body of knowledge in 3 related areas


NARRATIVE SKILLS

CONSTRUCTIONIST SKILLS

SYSTEMIC SKILLS

A new, integrated set of practices

FLUENT practices are built on ideas from all three areas. They enable sustainable improvement by attending to: -  The human system of people, beliefs and behaviours -  Their task, purpose, process and performance outcomes -  Roles, relationships, patterns of interaction and effects -  Leadership for systemic engagement and improvement -  Close attention to language, conversation and communication -  Improvement using stories, story-making and corporate authorship -  Using powerful systemic and generative questioning -  With collaborative, inclusive and outcome focused activities -  And reflection to increase systemic, constructionist and narrative awareness in the client’s world so that they can use it for themselves

FLUENT practices draw out, amplify and take their lead from the interests, motivation and momentum of the client. It uses questions and suggestions to raise the client’s awareness of and sensitivity to risks and priorities as it proactively enables a planned process of organisational change and improvement.



Does it matter?

At the heart of it, language is both the medium and the product.

It’s why clients need practitioners who know how to work with it.

And why organisations need leaders who know how to use it well.

We hear a lot these days about ‘narrative’, ‘stories’, ‘conversation’ and ‘authorship’… In society at large, there’s a growing awareness that the things we construct in language are the things that count.

The ideas that inform the fluent practitioner bring the practice of consulting, coaching and facilitating learning up to date, equipping us to help clients in ways that meet their contemporary expectations.

THE NARRATIVE

STORIES

CONVERSATION

AUTHORSHIP

LANGUAGE

Your language becomes mine…

My language becomes yours…

And a new language, previously unknown to both of us, becomes ours…

In summary


As a fluent practitioner, by giving up some of the certainty I have in the language of my own knowledge, I become free to learn about yours and fluent enough to create something new together, that works

That’s the FLUENT practitioner


The principles and practices of the fluent practitioner have been developed over 20 years by Tim Coburn in his various roles as an OD consultant, learning facilitator, executive coach and leadership development specialist at world class organisations including the BBC, Motorola, Rolls-Royce, Kenya Airways, Syngenta and Serco.

Master-Classes for Consultants, Coaches and Facilitators Tim offers bespoke half-day and full-day Master-Class Workshops for experienced practitioners who want to extend their expertise with the additional skills of the fluent practitioner introduced in this presentation.

For More Information For more information, please contact Tim at: [email protected]

Developed by Tim Coburn