Many of my fondest memories when travelling were unplanned and off the beaten track. Uncovering that special hidden trail after taking a wrong turn. Discovering an unbelievably delicious hole in the wall restaurant in the middle of nowhere. Recovering a moment of natural tranquility away from the noisy tourist traps.
In sports, the momentum of a game can shift from one team to another in the time it takes to convert an unplanned and seemingly harmless, “nothing” play into the start of a game-changing comeback.
As an Agile Coach, much of what I do to help my coachees is unplanned. It depends on where they are in the moment, where they want to go and how fast they want to get there. All I can do is to sense their intentions, stimulate their ideas, challenge them to take the next steps and respond to their needs along the way. Often the most benign coaching conversations turn into deep moments of reflection and insight for both of us. Totally unexpected moments!
Here are 3 recent moments of serendipity I had the fortune of experiencing…
- Offering real-time coaching to disrupt the routine flow of the standard co-created team improvement backlog and process.
- A coachee’s reservations and reticence giving way to a torrent of deep-seated feelings and emotions.
- Salvaging a Leadership Community of Practice (CoP) on the verge of being cancelled for lack of engagement until a community member’s courageous question sparked insightful responses and connections. Turning the CoP into an exchange of valuable experiences and advice for the community members.
What made the difference? How did we go from nothing to something?
I attribute it to the art of curious conversation. In each case we just started chatting and let our shared words guide us towards something meaningful and valuable.
Meaning and value for my coachees is what happens when we go from nothing to something.
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