( one down ) an introduction
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© Tim Coburn, 2012 Tim Coburn www.timcoburn.com Generative Ideas for Leadership and Learning in the 21 st Century ( one-down )
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( one down ) is a practitioners guide for leaders, coaches and consultants who are finding established ways of working inadequate for truly engaging people in both learning and performance. Based on the practical application of systemic, constructionist and narrative ideas, this is an introduction to the ideas in the guide and a taster of the training offered by Tim Coburn and the Flourish Academy
Transcript of ( one down ) an introduction
© Tim Coburn, 2012
Tim Coburn
www.timcoburn.com
Generative Ideasfor
Leadership and Learning
in the
21st Century( one-down )
Tim Coburn, 2012
We know about teaching…
Tim Coburn, 2012
There’s more knowledge in their world, than you will ever have in your head…
phone tablet laptop desktop
search find link listen watch discover learn blog share talk discuss create collaborate
television
But, today…
Tim Coburn, 2012
that’s not all…
Tim Coburn, 2012
If we want to help people learn and solve problems that…
make sense
…we shouldn’t just give our answers and hope
they know what we mean!
Tim Coburn, 2012
Why not?
Because human beings don’t learn by… Listening (didactically) or by...
Doing (experientially)
We learn by making (conversationally)
Tim Coburn, 2012
FromInstruction
ToConstruction
The shift is already happening….
Tim Coburn, 2012
FromImparting
Knowledge
ToConstructingKnowledge
Tim Coburn, 2012
From
TEACHINGKNOWLEDGE
To
GENERATINGKNOWLEDGE
…it’s a whole new skill-set
Tim Coburn, 2012
generative ideas
for leaders, consultants, coaches and facilitators
Based on a new Practitioners Guide
By Tim Coburn( one-down )
Tim Coburn, 2012
( one-down )
What does it do?
Help others:
1. Learn more effectively
2. Get better at what they do
3. Work well with colleagues and customers
4. Realize their potential
5. And help you lead, consult and coach with more impact
Tim Coburn, 2012
start here…
Ways of Thinking
Tim Coburn, 2012
We see a person – we need to ‘see’ and work with the people and relationships influencing who they are and what they do. A generative mindset always treats the person as a ‘person-in-relationship’, using skills that generate knowledge and action for the person-in-relationship with those that count.
A Systemic Perspective
Tim Coburn, 2012
A Constructionist Perspective
As people join, move through and leave social contexts (like family, friends, departments and teams) they pick up a vocabulary, a language and ways of knowing and acting that work there. Through language, they know the realities, truths and common sense to live by. A generative mindset enables the construction of knowledge that fits their current or future world.
Tim Coburn, 2012
People are born into narratives or stories that are already running, they join others, construct their own and see their lives shaped by the stories they inhabit. A generative mindset uses narrative skills to generate new stories especially for the development of leadership, learning and performance.
A Narrative Perspective
Home
Words
Family
Relationships
Culture, NationTradition
Conversations
Politics, FaithGender, Age, Ability
Actions
My Word Hoard
Education
My Historical Facts
ImmediateFuture
ThoughtsFeelings
My RecentPast
My Hopes &Aspirations
My Fond Memories
My RealisticExpectations
Generation Critical EventsEra
Personal ChangeLife Stage Life TimeAge
MY PAST
MY FUTURE
Work Community
My Current
Reality
‘Are youtalking to
meor chewing
a brick?’
If you really want toengage meyou have to
discover who I amand
the realities I live by
Manager,Work Team, Job
OrganisationProfession
My CurrentReality
LANGUAGE
When you bring all three perspectives together, you get a richer insight into the realities people live by. A generative mindset draws on the other person’s sense of their own experience as the primary resource for making sense, improving engagement, solving problems and achieving goals. Leaders, coaches and facilitators learn to ‘connect and engage’ the real person, on terms that matter to them. Tim Coburn, 2012
Tim Coburn, 2012
The ContextsThey Know
The StoriesThey’re Part Of
The Language They Use
These views are important for a critical reason:
They create our personal (and sometimes collective) ways of knowing, thinking and deciding.
That’s why they matter to leaders, consultants and coaches
Tim Coburn, 2012
Their Way of Knowing,Thinking, Feeling, Deciding,
Acting…
What TheyPerceive
The Possibilities ofTheir Performance
The MeaningThey Make of It
The KnowledgeThey Construct
Determines Informs
The Contexts
They Know
The StoriesThey’re Part
Of
The Language
TheyUse
PrivateNot Knowable to Me
PublicMore Knowable to Me
Look! The social contexts they’re embedded in (systemic perspective), the language they use (constructionist perspective) and the stories they’re part of (narrative perspective) combine to create how they think and how they perform… They must be central to our work as leaders, consultants and coaches
Tim Coburn, 2012
From
TEACHINGKNOWLEDGE
To
GENERATINGKNOWLEDGE
So, if you want to be generative….
…you need to re-create the experiences that shape their ‘mind’
and not just give them yours
Tim Coburn, 2012
A generative mind set recognises the large scale changes taking place
That was then… This is now…
Tim Coburn, 2012
Object
Physics
Ingredients
Characteristics
Person
Knowledge
System
Cybernetics
Organization
Pattern
Relationship
Language
Understandingcomes from…
Tim Coburn, 2012
UniversalObjective
TruthFor ever
Knowing ‘this’, ‘that’and ‘how’
Found by experts
Manifest in facts
LocalContextualRelational
For the time being
Knowing ‘how togo on’
Made by everyone
Manifest in language
Knowledge is…
Tim Coburn, 2012
When we believe the realities we live by are…
found by experts
Learning occurs by… didactic instruction
We might call this… ‘learning-by-listening’
With the advantage of…experts knowing
everything
When we believe the realities we live by are…
made by everyone
Learning occurs by… collaborative construction
We might call this… ‘learning-by-talking’
With the advantage of…everyone knowing
something
Learningchanges…
Tim Coburn, 2012
I put my knowledgeat risk
no yes
I judge your knowledge against my criteria
yes no
A generative mindset readily accepts – and develops - the validity of another person’s knowledge because it is a primary resource for making better progress
A generative mindset readily accepts – and develops – the validity of another person’s judgment because it is critical to navigating their own world successfully
Tim Coburn, 2012
I judgeyour
knowledge against
mycriteria
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certainty
curiosity
reflexivity
I put my knowledge at riskno
no
yes
yes
( one-down ) – conceding the validity of your own knowledge in favour of the validity of theirs’
‘Dispositions’ for generative practitioners
Tim Coburn, 2012
All 4 positions have a rightful part to play
But, the position that’s potentially the most productive is:
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And it’s also the hardest to do well
Tim Coburn, 2012
( one-down )
How do you do it?
Tim Coburn, 2012
To help you consider the implications for your own practice, this section presents a comparison between an:
Established View
and
Emergent View
of skillfulness
The circular arrows are a reminder that it’s not ‘either or’ but a conscientious choice to use or move between either view according to the circumstances… while knowing that the Emergent view is the one we’re illuminating here
Tim Coburn, 2012
Established View
I use principles, models and theories as tools to assist my assessment, diagnosis and prescription
I act on situations and the people involved as a detached and independent expert
I give advice and make presentations to help them understand my knowledge
Emergent View
I use conversation, language and meaning-making as tools to assist their insight, understanding and progress
I join with situations and the people involved as an engaged and naive participant
I ask questions and author conversations to help them construct their own knowledge
When my question is: ‘What’s My Goal?’
Tim Coburn, 2012
Established View
The right way, evidence supporting my use of the best strategy and validation of my expertise, replicable in most situations
Increase my capacity to offer ideas, options, decisions and good progress for my profession
Emergent View
A better way, evidence supporting their use of a strategy that works and validation of their expertise, unique to this situation
Increase their capacity to generate ideas, options, decisions and good progress for themselves
When my question is, ‘What’s a Successful Outcome?’
Tim Coburn, 2012
Established View
By setting forth the certainty of ‘how things ought to be’ By presenting and advocating a way forward from my sense of the circumstances
Emergent View
By drawing out the novelty of ‘how things actually are’ By detecting and generating a way forward from their sense of the circumstances
When my question is, ‘How Do I Achieve My Goal?’
Tim Coburn, 2012
Established View
By treating difficulties as inadequacies in the situation that a more rigorous version or vigorous application of my theory will resolve
Emergent View
By treating difficulties as inadequacies in my theory that a better appreciation or alternative explanation of the situation might reveal
When my question is, ‘How Do I Respond to Difficulties?’
Tim Coburn, 2012
Established View
Knowledge and meaning are objective, literal and universal
Learning occurs by interactive instruction – ‘learning by listening’
Reality, truth and common sense are ‘found out there’
Authority attaches to my view – my role is to bring it to bear
I’m one-up – ‘I know best’
Emergent View
Knowledge and meaning are experiential, relational and local
Learning occurs by collaborative construction – ‘learning by talking’
Reality, truth and common sense are ‘made between us’
Authority attaches to their view – my role is to help them use it
I’m one-down – ‘you know better’
When my question is, ‘What Assumptions Am I Making?’
Tim Coburn, 2012
What’s it like?
‘The established view fills me with confidence, certainty and conviction… until I discover it doesn’t ‘fit’ my client’s world although I liked
its clarity.’
‘The emergent view fills me with curiosity, concern and doubt… until I discover it
generates clarity in my client’s world that sometimes seems strange to me.’
Tim Coburn, 2012
( one-down )
The generative mindset presented here is incomplete without the practitioners skill set.
( one-down ) has three layers:
Ways of ThinkingWays of TalkingThings to Say
Ways of Talking and Things to Say provide practical questioning and conversational skills for you to adapt, create and integrate within your own practice and according to your professional setting.
The Flourish Academy has details of training offered – see over…
Tim Coburn, 2012
( one-down )
( one-down )is a new practitioner’s guide by
Tim Coburn
Practitioner Trainingfor Consultants, Coaches and
Learning Facilitatorsis provided by Tim Coburn through
The Flourish Academy
For more information:
www.flourishltd.com
Please get in touch to discuss.Thank You!
