Friday, October 18, 2019

Extreme Question Challenge


Asking questions is the pivotal coaching move – the shift that takes us from a consulting to a cognitively-challenging stance.  It’s the central move in the GIR model.  Yet, time and again, coaches tell me it’s the hardest shift to make along the Gradual Increase of Responsibility model for coaching.  It can be difficult to break the habit of making recommendations, even when teachers we are working with don’t need them.



As I read about the “Extreme Question Challenge,” in Liz Wiseman’s book, Multipliers, I couldn’t help but make a coaching connection and think about how the challenge might help coaches make a difficult shift.  Liz describes a time when she was complaining to a colleague about how, at home, she had become “the bossy mom,” constantly barking orders and telling her kids what to do.  Her colleague offered an interesting challenge: “Try speaking to your children only in the form of questions. No statements, no directives, no orders. Just questions.” Although the idea at first seemed ludicrous, Liz decided to give it a try for one evening. As the dreaded bedtime routine rolled around, Liz asked, “What time is it?” One child responded, “It’s bedtime.” “What do we do when we get ready for bed?” Liz asked.  Liz’s children responded to all of her questions, leading themselves through the bedtime routine that was typically such a struggle. 

Liz said she was shocked and wondered, “What has happened to my children? How long have they known how to do this?”  She kept up the experiment for a couple of days before returning to more normal conversational patterns.  Liz said she discovered her kids knew how to do a lot more things than she had thought.

Impressed by this revelation, she decided to try the experiment with the business team she managed.  Liz reported that she found her team to be even smarter than she previously thought!  She realized they didn’t need her to tell them what to do, but, rather, they needed her to ask them intelligent questions.

So, what do you think?  Are you ready to try the Extreme Question Challenge in coaching?  To force a change in habit, you could make a short-term, 100% commitment.  Try it for one meeting.  If you think the shift in conversational pattern might seem abrupt or strange to teachers, tell them you are experimenting with your coaching role.  Then go for it and see what happens!  As the teachers you are working with take up the increased intellectual challenge, it’s likely there will be greater collective learning – for the teachers and for you! 

Once a coach accepts that she doesn’t have to have all the answers, she is free to ask bigger questions.  Together, you and the teachers you are coaching can figure out things you don’t yet know.  Full effort comes when people see a challenge they can respond to.  Brains will be stretched as you each reach for the next inquiry and response.  

This week, you might want to take a look at:

Three ways to manage a chatty classroom:



Why kids need play:



Play is good for adults, too:



How to stay in the profession:



5 essentials for coaching success:


That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!

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