Coaches, Stay Curious

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You can find My Coaches Couch, the podcast (with different content) in your favorite podcast app or at MyCoachesCouch.podbean.com.
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If someone asked me to name one coaching move that consistently leads to meaningful conversations, I wouldn’t choose a protocol, a planning tool, or even a favorite strategy.
 
I'd choose curiosity.
 
The more I coach, the more convinced I become that curiosity—not certainty—is one of our best coaching tools. Unfortunately, it’s also an easy habit to lose. Like any habit, curiosity grows stronger when we intentionally practice it – and we don't need to be in a school building to do that!  Summer is a time to recharge, but it's also a time to strengthen the habits we'll rely on throughout the school year.
 
Curiosity isn’t only for coaching conversations. The habits that make us better instructional coaches can be practiced in ordinary moments—while reading a book, talking with a neighbor, visiting a museum, or simply paying closer attention to the people around us.
 
During the school year, teachers bring us real challenges and we want to help. Our experience naturally leads us to possible solutions, and before we know it, we're sharing ideas before we've fully explored the teacher's thinking. To stem, that tide, we need to practice curiosity.
 
While there are certainly times when teachers need resources or suggestions, coaching with curiosity invites teachers to do the intellectual work of making meaning, considering possibilities, and deciding what comes next. Our questions open that door.
 
Questions Signal Exploration
 
Questions shift conversations away from finding the "right" answer and toward exploring possibilities.
 
During a coaching conversation with Ashley, a junior high instructional coach, I began by asking, “What have you been wondering about as you implement small-group math instruction?"
 
Ashley described how the sixth-grade team was experimenting with cross-classroom instruction, grouping students with the teacher whose strengths best matched their learning needs. As she reflected, Ashley shared several wonderings. She wondered whether introducing a new instructional structure in March—just weeks before state assessments—was asking too much of teachers. She wondered whether teachers saw the work as worthwhile despite everything else competing for their attention. She was also curious about whether the student data would eventually reflect the promise they were hoping to see.
 
What struck me was how rich the conversation became because we stayed with her curiosity instead of moving immediately to solutions. Rather than reassuring her or offering suggestions, I responded, "I'm curious about that first wondering. Are your teachers seeing these small groups as an intervention that supports students' readiness for the upcoming assessment?"
 
That question invited Ashley to continue making sense of what she was observing. It helped us consider the situation from multiple perspectives.
Productive coaching conversations leave room for wondering. So do engaging conversations with friends and family.
 
In a conversation with a friend who is considering changing jobs, you could practice curiosity. Instead of saying, “I wouldn’t leave your current job,” you could ask, “What kind of work gives you energy?” or “What are you hoping life will look like in a few years?” Questions like these encourage exploration and give us a chance to practice curiosity now.
 
Questions Create Agency
 
One reason curiosity matters so much is that questions shift the thinking to teachers. When coaches do all the thinking, teachers leave with our ideas. When teachers do the thinking, they leave with ownership – and that's an important distinction.
 
Questions like the following invite others into curiosity and agency:

·        What are you noticing?

·        What surprises you?

·        What if...?

·        What makes you curious here?

·        What could go right?

Questions like these encourage experimentation instead of perfection. They are an invitation to imagine alternatives, compare possibilities, and test ideas without feeling that everything has to work perfectly. That kind of curiosity builds confidence because it reinforces agency rather than dependence.
 
Curiosity Helps Us See What We Might Otherwise Miss
 
Another reason to practice curiosity (now and later, in your coaching) is that curiosity keeps us from making assumptions. As coaches, it can be easy to think we've seen a situation before, so our minds begin filling in the blanks. Curiosity interrupts that habit. There is almost always more beneath the surface than we initially see. Curiosity helps us stay open long enough to discover it.
 
Summer Is a Wonderful Time to Practice Curiosity
 
Even ordinary moments become opportunities to practice curiosity. The habits of curiosity we cultivate now can be carried into the school year. So as we enjoy the distinctive pace of summer, I invite you to practice curiosity. Notice and wonder. Ask another question. Assume less. Be surprised!
 
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt once said, "We run this company on questions, not answers." That philosophy seemed to work!
 
Curiosity is a habit that makes every coaching conversation better, and it can be practiced almost anywhere—in conversations with friends, while traveling, during a morning walk, or through conversation with someone who sees the world differently. Those small moments quietly prepare us for the coaching conversations waiting in the fall.

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