As a coach, it is always essential to be aware of the mental models governing my thoughts, assumptions, and behaviors, especially if I plan to help my clients do the same. Our beliefs influence what data we select and process so in order to remain objective and unbiased, I need to be aware of my thinking and reasoning (reflection), make my thinking and reasoning visible to others (advocacy), and inquire into other's thinking and reasoning (inquiry). I need to be conscious of the stories that I am telling about my client and to distinguish them from the observable data: what happened/what was said versus what story am I telling about it? Argyris and Schon developed a helpful tool to surface and check assumptions called the two-column research method that I can use for myself and with my client. It consists of simply creating two columns and in the first writing "what was said" and in the second "what I was thinking".
"Mental Models are the images, assumptions, and stories which we carry in our minds of ourselves, other people, institutions, and every aspect of the world." - Peter Senge
Comments