Develop as a learning organization.
Take ownership of their visions for poverty reduction, if the
evaluation vision is aligned with that.
Profit more effectively from formal evaluations.
Make self-evaluations an important part of their activities.
Focus quality improvement efforts.
Increase the benefits and decrease the costs associated with their
operations.
Augment their ability to change programming midstream and
adapt in a dynamic, unpredictable environment.
Build evaluation equity, if they are then better able to conduct
more of their own self-evaluation, instead of hiring them out.
Shorten the learning cycle.
Figure 2 poses key questions concerning how an organization may
learn from evaluation, combining the two elements of learning by
involvement and learning by communication. It provides the context
within which to visualize continuing efforts to increase value added
from independent evaluation, and underscores the role in internal
evaluation capacity development. It also makes a strong case for more
research into how development agencies learn how to learn
378
The Reframing Matrix
A Reframing Matrix is a simple technique that helps you to look at
problems from a number of different viewpoints. It expands the range
of creative solutions that you can generate.
The approach relies on the fact that different people with different
experience approach problems in different ways. What this technique
helps you to do is to put yourself into the minds of different people and
imagine the solutions they would come up with.
We do this by putting the question to be asked in the middle of a grid.
We use boxes around the grid for the different perspectives. This is just
an easy way of laying the problem out - if it does not suit you, change it.
We will look at two different approaches to the reframing matrix. You
could, however, use this approach in many different ways.
The 4 Ps Approach
This relies on looking at a problem from different perspectives within a
business. The 4 Ps approach looks at problems from the following
viewpoints:
379
1. Product perspective: is there something wrong with the product?
2. Planning perspective: are our business or marketing plans at fault?
3. Potential perspective: if we were to seriously increase our targets,
how would we achieve these increases?
4. People perspective: why do people choose one product over another?
The 'Professions Approach'
Another approach to using a reframing matrix is to look at the problem
from the viewpoints of different specialists. The way, for example, that
a doctor looks at a problem would be different from the approach a civil
engineer would use. This would be different from a sales manager's
perspective.
Here is an example of both approaches:
380
Sources:
Asian
Development
Bank-
Metro
Manila,
Philippines
-
knowledge@adb.org
-
www.adb.org/knowledgesolutions
Olivier Serrat, Head of the Knowledge Management Center, Asian
Development Bank (oserrat@adb.org).
http://www.ashgate.com/pdf/SamplePages/reframing.pdf
http://www.youmeworks.com/behold-the-power-of-reframing.html
http://finntrack.co.uk/leadership/reframing.htm
381
3.7 REALITY CHECK
When people come for personal life coaching, they usually feel stuck.
They desperately want to change something, but they report they don’t
know how to make their lives different. As they discuss the scenario, I
typically note a common denominator that keeps them stuck in their
unpleasant situation.
Most people who want to change are caught up in a state of “denial”. As
you read this, you might be saying to yourself that you don’t fall into
that state because you clearly know what is wrong in your life and what
you want to change. I assure you, denial is almost always part of the
problem.
The classic example of denial is the coachee who lives with an alcoholic
and does not see the behavior as being as serious as it is. She might say,
“He wasn’t as drunk as last weekend” or “Well, at least he didn’t drive”
or “He couldn’t have been that intoxicated because he was able to go to
work”.
When a coachee comes in and wants to start a new business they
typically have not researched the amount of hours they will need to
devote to changing their life so dramatically. They have not created the
financial support to sustain them during this transition. They are in
denial about the realities of this change. They want the outcome, but
they haven’t created the infrastructure to support the change.
My work with coachees who are stuck usually involves moving them
out of the state of denial by doing what I call a “reality check”. This is
done in two steps. The first step is after the coachee makes a statement,
I hit them with a dose of reality.
COACHEE: I want to lose ten pounds.
ME: What have you done to support the change?
COACHEE: I am doing a lot of thinking about it.
382
ME: (reality check) I haven’t heard you talk about the behaviors that
support the change.
The coachee is well-meaning, but they continue to avoid looking at the
real picture. They stay in that state of denial, pretending they know
what they need to do to improve their lives, when in essence their
situation continues to have major problems because they don’t have a
specific action plan that they are implementing or because they aren’t
seeing the situation for what it is.
I believe you will get healthier faster if you move out of the state of
denial and see the total picture. When a coachee says to me, “I have
been working on my spending” I do a reality check… “How much less
are you spending?” They typically answer, “Well, I don’t know the exact
numbers.” By not knowing the exact numbers they don’t have to change
their behavior drastically.
It’s a very scary thing to alter your life to support the goals you really
want. It takes a lot of courage and self-determination to stop enabling
others or yourself. It almost always means that you will have to let go of
some familiar behavior that has not been working for you. If you want
to save money, you can’t buy that new dress or that new technological
toy. If you want to lose weight, you won’t be able to have that second
helping. If you want to be less affected by your spouse, you will need to
walk away from them temporarily and create your own life.
Are you in denial about something important? To live the life you were
meant to live, you must give 100% to it.
Source:
http://www.carolthecoach.com/articles/relationships/realitycheck.ht
m
383
3.8. SCALING
3.8.1 SCALING OF PROBLEMS
Think about something you want to achieve, or even some (minor)
problem that you are currently facing. How would you rate where you
are in relation to this issue on a scale of 0-10 - where 0 is the worst it's
ever been, and 10 is how it's going to be when it's exactly how you want
it?
This seemingly simple question does a number of useful things and
opens the door to even more. Let's have a look in more detail at how it
works:
Unless the rating is zero, it helps you realise that not everything is
bad in the current situation. When we focus on solving a problem,
that tends to expand to fill our awareness until all we see is the
problem. Rating the problem on a scale helps us to realise that some
things are already working, and some components of the solution
are already happening.
Having a scale implies that it's possible to move. If we view the
current situation as 'the problem', and contrast that with our ideal
solution, it can seem like there's no bridge between the two -
particularly if we are prone to black and white, either/or thinking.
The scale builds a bridge between 'problem' and solution - and
obviously implies that we can move along it to get closer to the
solution.
Do you ever give yourself a hard time about not achieving enough?
As you know, that will most likely demotivate you. Instead, you can
use scaling to remind you of what you have already achieved with
this supplementary question:
(given that you are at n on the scale now) How have you got there from
n-1?
Or: How do you stop yourself sliding back to n-1?
384
Notice how these questions acknowledge and validate what you have
already been doing to make the solution happen, and provide
behavioural reinforcement to your unconscious mind, encouraging it to
do more in that direction.
You can use scaling to begin to move towards your ideal solution,
like this:
(given that you are at n on the scale now) What will be different when
you are at n+1?
Notice that the question is not asking 'How are you going to get there?' -
just 'What will be different?'. This begins to build an image in your mind
of how things will be when they are just a bit closer to how you want
them, and what you will be doing differently - a form of mental
rehearsal which makes it more likely that you will take action.
Of course, if you are using scaling to coach someone else, you can
equally well use these questions to assist them in moving towards their
solution. You can also ask, for any action that they tell you they are
going to take: 'On a scale of 0-10, how committed are you?' For
anything they expect to happen: 'On a scale of 0-10, how confident are
you that this will happen?'
Normally I give sources for any research that I quote. Here's an
additional snippet I recall reading somewhere, but the source escapes
me - so it's up to you if you believe it or not: when we assign a
numerical rating to a problem, this engages the left hemisphere of the
brain, which is associated with more positive emotions. So just by
scaling a problem, we may start to feel better about it. If anyone is
aware of the research which backs this up, do let me know!
Sources: http://www.coachingleaders.co.uk/blog/nlpeq-tip-
solution-focus-2-scaling.html (Andy Smith)
The Solutions Focus: Making Coaching and Change SIMPLE - by Paul Z
Jackson and Mark McKergow
385
3.8.2. Scaling Techniques For Assessing Progress
Using scaling techniques in coaching can be a really useful way of
helping a coachee assess their progress or their state of satisfaction in
relation to their desired outcomes, or clarify their commitment to a way
forward.
For example (in the simplest form):
On a scale of 1 -10…
…to what extent have you made progress towards this goal?
…how content are you in this area?
…how committed are you to taking this action.
This then allows the coachee to assess their position and gives a
foundation on which to move forward.
The use of scaling techniques in coaching forms part of the ‘Solutions
focus’ approach (see further reading) and there are numerous
techniques you can employ to use scaling effectively. (There are even
whole day courses you can spend to improve your skills in this area!)
Assessing progress
One powerful benefit of scaling is to help your coachee to asess their
position in relation to their ideal outcome (their 10/10). So, when you
ask a scaling question remember to give a brief description of what
their 10/10 might be and a brief description of their 1/10, ensuring
that what you describe for the latter is well below what you know their
position is:
e.g. ‘On a scale of 1 – 10 where 10/10 is your perfect scenario where
you are totally organised, you know what you have to do and you
achieve everything you want to achieve in a day and more, and as a
result you feel great… and 1/1 is where you are so disorganised that
you achieve absolutely nothing in a day, you don’t know what you want
to achieve and you don’t even know how to start being
organised….where are you on this scale?’
386
In this scenario your coachee will most likely to be able to identify some
midpoint between the two extremes on which you can then build with a
further question such as:
‘so what do you know you are doing well which is giving you the score
of 4?’ which then leads to further positive exploration.
Remember, always use 1 rather than zero as your lower end of the scale
as zero cannot be built upon should your coachee choose the lowest
extreme.
Once you have established your coachee’s current position you can then
ask questions to help move them forward:
e.g. so, if you are now at a 6 what things can you now do to move
yourself to a 7?’
Assessing commitment
Using scaling techniques in coaching is also a great way to assess your
coachee’s commitment to an action. Simply asking ‘are you committed’
is a closed question and will more likely prompt a ‘yes’ rather than a
‘no’ whatever their commitment is, whilst asking ‘how committed are
you’ might elicit a vague ‘very committed’ response which could mean
many things. By asking a scaling question you are helping your coachee
put some measure on it which you can then explore further and prompt
you to ask ‘so what would bring your commitment to a 10/10?’
From experience coachees with a commitment of less than 8/10 usually
require further exploration to establish underlying issues affecting
their motivation and to establish what action they will be more
committed to.
Source: http://www.personal-coaching-information.com/scaling-
techniques-in-coaching.html
387
3.9 EXTERNALISING OF PROBLEMS
Externalising language is used in coaching to separate the problem
from the person. For example, a person may say “I am a sad person”.
This implies that the person has a sad quality or characteristic of
sadness rather than it just being something that affects the person from
time to time.
Coaches working from a narrative perspective are attuned to the
language they use to represent an issue or problem in their coachees’
lives. They assume that the issue or problem is “having an effect on the
person” rather than the issue or problem being an intrinsic part of who
the person is.
Rather than saying “you are lacking in motivation”, a coach working
from a narrative perspective may ask “when did motivation leave you?”
OR rather than say, “you are stressed” the coach may enquire, “when
did stress get a hold of you?”
Source: www.mentalhealthacademy.com.au
Consider the difference between saying ‘I’m a perfectionist’ as
opposed to saying ‘Perfectionism is giving me a hard time today.’ In the
latter case, you are, in language at least, separating you – the person –
from the problem. The separation opens up different ways of talking
about the problem and helps bring to the surface different options for
responding to it.
Of course, you can think of impediments to productivity as a
manifestation of your basic essence, your basic nature. The
impediments may be your intrinsic laziness, slow-wittedness, or
clumsiness showing through. On the other hand, you can externalise
these impediments, think of them as objects or agents that are distinct
from you and with which you have a (sometimes troubled) relationship.
When problems are externalised, it’s much more natural to think of
them as coming and going, sometimes being strong, sometimes weak. It
is much more natural to ask when they arrived on the scene, to ask
388
whether they might leave, and to ask whether and how you might
change your relationship with them.
Naming problems
If something is holding you back, you can seek to find a name or
other means of referring to the problem, a means that makes it separate
from you. Sometimes just putting a ‘the’ in front of it will work, e.g.
‘The Perfectionism’ or ‘The Block’. There are no right answers here.
The point of the technique is to find a name that means something to
you. And if your first couple of tries for a name don’t feel right, you
can always try others.
Names people have shared with me for problems that have interfered
with achieving their goals in a sustainable way include: ‘The Critic’,
‘Perfecto Man’, ‘The Pressure Cooker’, ‘The Boulder’ and so on. Having a
name for your particular problem, one that means something to you,
helps create the separation between you and the problem. For some
people, the business of naming a problem can seem daft. And for very
many people naming a problem can be both fun and a helpful first step
in loosening its grip.
Finding out more about a problem
Once you have a name for your problem – and even if you do not –
you can find out more about it. How does it like to operate? When is
it most active? Does it have a gender? Does it have a colour and a
shape?
When is the problem in charge and when are you in charge? What
aspirations does the problem have for you in the short and in the long
term? What do you like about it and what do you dislike?
What positive intentions does the problem have (even if, overall, it does
not play a positive role for you)? What consequences does the
problem tend to bring about?
389
Exceptions and unique outcomes
Problems and the problem-talk that they promote, often like to
generalise recklessly. They are very fond of words such as ‘always’,
‘never’, ‘not once’, ‘every time’ and so on, e.g. ‘Every time I start to write
I get blocked. I will never finish this report.‘ If this is your experience,
it’s worth gently probing your history to see whether such statements
really stand up to scrutiny.
You might, for example, get curious as to whether there are any
occasions where the problem has not got its way. What was different on
such an occasion? Can you find a common thread that links together a
series of occasions where the problem did not interfere in a way that
you would rather it had not?
This line of inquiry is not about denying the power of the problem. It’s
not about pretending that it is not an issue. Rather, it’s about opening
up some space for another story thread. If, as can sometimes happen,
the dominant story thread is one of being stuck – ‘I have terminal
writer’s block, I’ll never get finished‘ – then this can sometimes drive
out exceptions. Learning more about the exceptions, especially if you
get stuck a lot, can be a route to renegotiating your relationship with
a problem.
At the same time, adopting different and richer ways of describing your
relationship to a problem, can help prepare the path for changing the
manner of that relationship, e.g. ‘On Tuesday morning, The Block
started to work on me just as I was making coffee and didn’t let go for
the rest of the day. But on Friday, after lunch with Emily, The Block was
just absent. I didn’t even think about its presence or absence until now.’
You are not the problem, the problem is the problem
Externalising emphasises that you are not the problem. Rather, the
problem is the problem. Getting some distance from the problem can
help you see your abilities and competencies, can help you see the
differences between what you want for yourself and what the problem
wants for you. Having this space can often help you renegotiate terms
390
with the problem or, in some cases, break off relations with the
problem altogether.
Externalising has it origins as a subtle technique that is used by
narrative therapists. For the best DIY results, read up more about it and
work with another person who has also read up. If what you try works,
keep on with it. If it doesn’t, stop and try something else.
Origins and understandings
Narrative therapy, and the technique of externalising, was developed
by Michael White and David Epston.
Generalising recklessly is a topic addressed within Transactional
Analysis therapy in relation to the concepts of ‘discounting’ and
‘grandiosity’.
References
What is Narrative Therapy?: An Introduction. Extracts of the book
are available at www.dulwichcentre.com.au site,
o What is Narrative Therapy?: An Easy to Read Introduction
Brief Counselling: Narratives and Solutions. The authors’ have a
great slogan – ‘if it works do more of it, if it doesn’t do something
different’ .
o Brief Counselling: Narratives and Solutions
Source: http://obliquely.org.uk/blog/externalising/ (Matthew Elton)
391
3.10 CREATING RAPPORT
A coach gives his coachee his full attention. By doing so, you make it
easier for the coachee to tell his story and enables him to look at he
could handle his problem better or even solve it. Giving attention you
also do by listening actively, by being genuine and by showing respect,
in other words by totally being there for the coachee.
As coach you tune into your coachee. You tune into his use of language,
words, intonation, attitude, movements and emotions. Do this
unobtrusively. If you tune into your coachee, it will become easier for
you to imagine what it would be like being him and having his problem.
Your coachee will also feel more at ease with you. This can be called
mirroring.
Coaching is a very special learning and development relationship.
Rapport is one of the active ingredients of coaching that makes it work.
More rapport between the coach