The coaching dojo in this chapter of Extraordinary Badass Agile Coaching is the payoff for me during this re-read (so far… there are 2 chapters and a wrap-up week left). I have been exposed to dojos in the past, mostly focused on coding and Scrum. All of them were team-based events. They are intense and compelling. The coaching dojo in Chapter 18 has a much smaller footprint and is easily implementable. I ran two this week and have plans for several more.
The concept is an application of facilitated role-playing. As described in the book there are three roles: the coach, the client, and the facilitator. The triad is presented with a scenario, and in my version, a snippet of dialog to help the participants slip into context. Currently, I have a team of 4 that I am working with, in that circumstance I have two people in the facilitator role. In a larger team, I break people up into teams of three. In a set timebox, the coach and the client interact. At the same time, the facilitator observes (the facilitator switches to active mode to prevent people from going over the top or going down non-relaxant rabbit holes). One coaching tip for the facilitator NEVER makes the dojo about you. At the end of the timebox, the facilitator leads the participants through a retrospective in which they explore not only how they acted but I always get people to explore how the event made them feel. As a coach, many conversations that I have are difficult. Both are difficult topics and difficult to have.
Dojos provide several important benefits for coaches (of all stripes). The first, and most important, is that it provides a safe place to actually try out hard conversations before you have them in an environment where they can have repercussions. I gameplan most conversations in my mind, coming at the discussion from multiple angles. It drives my wife crazy when I discuss what I am doing with her. Dojos are a significantly more powerful approach with the same goal. The second benefit is that coaching dojos build mental muscle memory. Add a coaching dojo to every center of excellence (CoP) or team event so that everyone involved builds up a portfolio of experiences with tough issues and conversations. When they run into those or similar scenarios they will have some experience to synthesize an approach.
This was a short and powerful chapter. I would love to hear about your experiences running this type of coaching dojo. I wrote three new scenarios this week and would be happy to share and exchange scenarios.
Final note, we will complete this re-read in three weeks. I am interviewing Bob for the podcast and will run the interview the weekend we complete the re-read. If you have questions for Bob (and it is before 9 March) sent them to me at tcagley@tomcagley.com
Thinking about Christmas presents for your coaching friends? (302 days from today!) Buy a copy and beat the rush – Badass Agile Coaching: The Journey from Beginner to Mastery and Beyond
