Why coach skills are the most exciting design tool I’ve picked up this year
Growing up in a household where my mother had a whole portfolio of job roles, there were a lot of ideas around to soak up. Her most enduring skill was coaching- techniques used in formal sessions where clients learned to look beyond their obstacles. Mum’s practice grew into coaching walks, graphical reflection, and became a coach supervisor. Soon it permeated into other job roles she held. It marks her apart in educational, healthcare and academic settings.
When I look at the principles behind my mum’s kind of coaching, it’s not hard to wonder why it’s her superhero skill. Coaches regard their clients as totally capable individuals with whom they have a totally equal relationship. They focus on identifying and actioning change.
The client is resourceful
The coach’s role is to develop the client’s resourcefulness through skilful questioning, challenge and support
Coaching addresses the whole person — past, present and future; work and private lives
The client sets the agenda
The coach and client are equals
Coaching is about change and action
— Coaching Skills, A Handbook, Jenny Rodgers, 2004
It’s certainly a different type of coaching than the classic sports stuff you see in a Rocky movie.
So how does coaching apply to design?
As an IBM Designer, I’m a fan of our curated design methodology, which is well on its way to adoption across the company.
Emphasis is on agile collaboration, radical reinvention and eradicating waterfall working styles. It works. We make great stuff and have great relationships with our colleagues. But as integrated as design has become, we hit the brick wall of old habits more than we’d like to admit.
When I ask designers in the studio “What’s missing in IBM Design Thinking?” there are a few key themes:
- Design Thinking sounds like the property of designers. Designers that stand out actually get everyone else to do the thinking. We work best when “each role has an early presence in the design thinking process.” No mean feat.
- Doing the activities doesn’t mean that you’ve done the thinking. It’s easy to forget that Design Thinking isn’t a check-box exercise. Keeping the team doing the thinking and questioning that constitutes Design Thinking throughout the lifecycle of a product is what marks successful offerings apart.
- Scaling brick walls is hard work. Designer or not, we all fight old habits and opinions. The best of us convert skeptics with a champion anecdote. But when you’re having your own doubts, finding that perfect story can be nigh on impossible.
In short, designers need to be superheroes to get ahead. So let’s outsource our skills. When Tim Cox and his expert coaches from Management Futures visited us in the Hursley Studio in April, it was easy to see how their coach skills education could expose that star design facilitator in us all.
‘…First off, we’re going to get some context into design thinking on some slides, then we’re going to move onto some activities that get us thinking in the right space…’
In the rush to create a snazzy Design Thinking experience, we can neglect to tell our team how to engage with us. Maybe a Design Thinking agenda wouldn’t feel so gimmicky if we used plain words. Next time I facilitate Design Thinking activities I’ll take a hint from Tim. I’ll try to establish that “We are going to do some activities which help us understand our audience, define their problems, then challenge ourselves to come up with solutions…”
And why is this better? Stakeholder & Empathy Maps, As-is Scenarios, Big Idea Vignettes & Brainstorming are all big words that mean different things to different people. If we cut down on fancy Design Thinking titles, we can share ownership of Design Thinking with everyone.
“When you jump in with a prompt or a question, digging for the real problems, are you oiling the wheel, or gritting it?”
We all have those moments where our team needs an injection of energy, or a challenge, mid-activity. We jump in and prompt with a question. Why do you think (persona) would feel that way? Why does (persona) do that in that scenario? Why is that a pain point? What’s fascinating about coaches, is how attuned they are to these questions. Tim had us talk for a few minutes, summarising and reflecting words/phrases back to each other. It felt a little like a user research interview, trying not to influence each others’ answers. Letting someone consider and reconsider what they’re saying to you is a sure-fire way to understand them, and quicker than dealing with misunderstandings. I guess I’ve spent so much time asking why, I’ve forgotten to let people talk.
Focus on what the other person is telling you. Don’t try to dive in and solve the issue yourself. Your role is to help them think better for themselves.
Without a doubt coaches and designers share a passion for getting to the root of our users’ problems. What we look for in design is what our clients really want; and coach skills are a great way to find out what they are.
Chloe Poulter is a Design Intern at IBM based in Hursley, UK. The above article is personal and does not necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
