Manifesto Musings: What Research is Important for You Right Now?
Last week, I introduced the proposition that there are four domains of knowledge that guide all coaching. This week, I’d like to drill down a bit on the research (in the broadest sense of that word) that is important to you. The question in the manifesto is, “What elemental questions about research do we need to address his year?” While poised at the level of the field itself, I think it is useful to explore for us as individual coaches.
For me, a key step in answering this question has been to honestly assess where I see both my blind spots and the places where I bank too much on my tacit knowledge/intuition in coaching. From this self-assessment I can then identify what bodies of knowledge and scholarship I need to explore in order to improve in these areas. As an example of the first case (blind spots), I recognized that I was less effective, on average, with people with strong left brain preferences who generally preferred to work in a linear, structured manner. Therefore, I read more on brain dominance and modes of learning to better understand how to create processes that matched these clients/participants in their strengths. As an example of the second case (tacit knowledge), I read more thoroughly and wrote a book chapter on narrative structure in order to understand more of the science and mechanics underpinning the work I intuitively do and teach around client stories. Both were a stretch for me but I have deepened my practice as a result.
What research would serve you well in your own development and practice as a coach right now?
Popularity: 34% [?]
Comment by jsibley on 5 March 2008:
Hi David,
Am I right that you are asking, what research would we, as individuals like to “consume” this year for our own development?
If so, I am very interested in research on motivation and goals, and what interventions help people to meet different types of goals. It appears that a fair amount has been written about this, often coming out of psychology and it seems so pertinent to one of the key aspects of coaching - defining goals and working toward meeting them.
Comment by David Drake on 5 March 2008:
Yes, John, that is what I am asking. The question arose out of my curiosity about how we make choices in terms of our time/budgets in supporting our own professional growth as coaches. In addition, it arose from within my own work with coaches in helping them reflect on their thought processes, decisions and behaviors in coaching.
For example, how will learning more about goals and motivation help you right now in your practice? How did you come to decide to “consume” more about this knowledge area? As we wrote about in our forthcoming coaching anthology, The Philosophy and Practice of Coaching, there is a critical need to unpack the “black box” of coaching. This question about research is in support of this effort.
Comment by jsibley on 6 March 2008:
I suppose there are at least two ways to feel like I am helping people in the best way I can - gathering my own feedback on what works and doesn’t work (clearly a good idea and worth pursuing) and using others’ experience of what works and why.
I believe in evidence-based practice, in the sense of trying to do things that work, trying not to do things that don’t work, and keeping an open mind about things which have not been proven to work or not to work (the major portion of what most of us do, I believe). In spite of believing that the relationship / alliance is a key factor in helping others, I think that having some intellectual rigor around why I’m doing what I’m doing can help me and my clients (for example, attachment theory in the way I practice psychotherapy).
If I’m going to help people to determine goals, explore their motivation, and meet those goals, understanding what research has already been done showing that methods A+B work better than just method A (for example, the role of implementation intentions) makes sense to me. I also bring a personal interest, in my ongoing process of meeting my own goals. I don’t know who first raised the relationship between “research” and “me-search” (anyone?), but I’ll venture to say that this plays a role in my choice of this topic.