Webinar

July 31, 2014

Lean Coaching:

Asking the Right Questions

Consultant / Coach / Facilitator / Trainer: Lean transformation & business performance improvement in all industries.

Teacher: University of California, San Diego

Author & Speaker:

Karen Martin, President

@KarenMartinOpEx

2013 Shingo Prize winner!

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For more Coaching information See Chapter 4 - Discipline

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Learning Objectives

• The role of the improvement coach

• Necessary skills for improvement coaches

• How to accelerate problem-solving skill building through asking the right questions at the right time

• When it’s appropriate to “tell” people what to do

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5 Observations & 1 Decree

1. There aren’t enough improvement “experts” to go around in an organization.

2. Improvement “experts” aren’t content experts (and, therefore, shouldn’t be the ones solving problems).

3. Problems aren’t being solved quickly enough.

4. Problems aren’t being solved well enough.

5. Managers don’t know enough about the improvement process.

6. Improvement can’t be delegated.

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Problem-solving capabilities developed?

Which target condition do you want to achieve?

OR

Problems solved?

Two Primary Responsibilities of Managers/Leaders

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Coaching Get work

done Develop People

Definitional Difficulties

Mentor

Coach

Teacher

Guide Counselor

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Improvement Coaching is more like sports coaching than executive or life coaching

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Employee Engagement – Gallup Findings

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2012

2011

2010

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ACTIVELY DISENGAGED

NOT ENGAGED ENGAGED

0% 100%

Experiential Progression?

Role Primary

Focus Objective

Practitioner Doing

Results

Facilitator Leading others in

doing

Primary - results; Secondary -

people development

Coach Teaching

others how to do

Primary - people development; Secondary -

results

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Attaining Mastery

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From The Outstanding Organization, p. 115

Coaching Skills Self-Assessment

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Assess your skills in three key areas

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Options for Developing PDSA Capabilities

• Strategy Deployment (Hoshin Kanri)

• A3 Management

• Kaizen Events

• Daily Kaizen / Kata

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Macro

Micro

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Develop hypothesis

Conduct experiment

Measure results

Refine Standardize

Stabilize

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Detailed Steps

1. Define and break down the problem.

2. Grasp the current condition.

3. Set a target condition.

4. Conduct root cause & gap analysis.

5. Identify potential countermeasures.

6. Develop & test countermeasure(s)

7. Refine and finalize countermeasure(s).

8. Implement countermeasure(s).

StudyEvaluate

Results 9. Measure process performance.

10. Refine, standardize, & stabilize the process.

11. Monitor process performance.

12. Reflect & share learning.

Adjust

Do

Clarifying the PDSA Cycle

PlanDevelop

Hypothesis

Conduct

Experiment

Refine

Standardize

Stabilize

Phase

Continuous Improvement

New Problem

Often 50-80% of the total time

Adjust

Adjust

Adopt Adapt

Abandon

Coaching: Dual Roles

REFLECTIVE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTIVE DEVELOPMENT

From The Outstanding Organization, p. 117

Heavy use of Socratic questioning to assess learning, develop critical thinking, and

build confidence

Here, the coach serves as teacher. Beware of the difference!

The Problem

with “Telling”

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Warning: The Expert Turned Coach

• Be aware of the juice you get from being the expert.

– Replace with the juice of serving others

• Avoid believing that everyone needs to think and behave the same way you do.

• Avoid “the way I would do it” thinking.

• Turn “THE” thing they need to learn to “A” thing they need to learn.

• Be aware of moving into “do-er,” “rescuer,” or “fixer” mode.

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Socratic Questioning

• Named for Socrates

• Based on his belief that the deepest learning results from a disciplined practice of thoughtful questioning.

– Way of assuring rigorous thinking

• Open-ended questions that cause the learner to think deeply.

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Socratic Questions for Problem Solving

www.ksmartin.com/subscribe pp 196-197 in The Outstanding Organization (pp 196-197)

Open vs. Closed Questions

• Open-ended questions begin with:

– What…?

– Why…?

– How…?

• Closed-ended questions begin with:

– Is /are…?

– Do / did…?

– Would / will…?

– Could / can…?

– Was / were…?

– Have / has…?

– Which…?

– Who…?

– When…?

– Where…?

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Serving the Problem Solver

If the problem solver… Potential Questions

…hasn’t clearly defined the problem. What’s the problem? Why is that a problem? How do you know it’s a problem?

…has framed the problem as a solution or a cause—or isn’t thinking high enough

What causes that to happen? What problem will that address? What larger problem does this smaller problem cause?

…operating without data or has unclear data.

What about the current state is not ideal? (What “should” it be?) What is the data telling you? How does the data support your conclusion?

…hasn’t uncovered the root cause(s) or hasn’t dug deeply enough.

Why does that occur? How do you know that? What else might explain the current state?

Only ask questions to: 1) Assess learning/understanding 2) Help the problem solver discover that he/she has more work to do.

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Questioning “Don’ts”

• Masked recommendations

– Disguising your recommendation as a question (and thinking that counts as a question)

– “Leading the witness”

• “Run on” questions

– Long questions that contain multiple questions

• “The inquisition” – asking question after question

– Instead of pausing and allowing the person to think

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Questioning “Don’ts” (continued)

• Harsh or judgmental tone

• Multi-tasking or half-listening instead of engaging the person in a focused dialogue

• If the problem owner asks, “What do you think?,” don’t take the bait!

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Closed questions and “telling” are acceptable when…

1. The person clearly has little or no experience with an improvement practice or tool that’s needed.

2. You’re clarifying your understanding.

3. Listen with respect and validation; listen without judgment.

4. Listen for unspoken fears, concerns, and aspirations.

5. Use all of your senses, not merely your ears.

6. Take a mental journey and walk in others’ shoes.

7. Listen without thinking about how you’re going to respond.

8. Listen with optimism and positive human regard.

9. Confirm your understanding. (“I think what you’re saying…”)

10. Listen for “why.”

11. Listen with two hats: teacher and psychologist. 28

10 Keys to Deep Listening

1. Be 100% present.

2. Listen without thinking about how you’re going to respond.

3. Listen with two hats: teacher and psychologist.

4. Seek to understand. Listen for “why.”

5. Listen with respect; listen without judgment.

6. Listen for unspoken fears, concerns, and aspirations.

7. Use all of your senses, not merely your ears.

8. Take a mental journey and walk in others’ shoes.

9. Listen with optimism and positive human regard.

10. Confirm your understanding. (“I think what you’re saying…”)

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Coaching Approach for Various Learning Stages Problem Owner’s

Problem-Solving Skill Level Goal What to Ask / Do

Problem-solving is spot on. Thought partner

“How’s it going?”

“What’s working well?”

“What’s not?”

“What have you learned?”

“What’s been most

surprising?”

“What are you doing next?”

“How can I help?”

Problem-solving is off course

and needs correction.

Get person back on

track

Probe using Socratic

questioning; turn to

teaching only when needed.

Problem-solving is on track,

but the problem owner is

having difficulty taking next

steps.

Build confidence;

remove obstacles;

create an action plan

Use Socratic questioning to

help person realize his/her

strengths & grow

competencies; provide

mentoring for knowledge

transfer (e.g. specific tools). 30

Building Organization-wide Coaching Capabilities

Executive Team

Senior Leaders

Middle Managers

Frontlines

Second Coach

Second Coach

Second Coach

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Skill Development Progression*

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Unconscious Incompetence

Conscious Incompetence

Conscious Competence

* Attributed to Noel Burch, Gordon Training International

Start Goal

Unconscious Competence

Co

nsc

iou

sne

ss

Competence

1 4

3 2

PDSA for Improvement Coaches

Prepare for Coaching Session

Hold Coaching Session

Reflect on Coaching Session

Adjust for Next Coaching

Session

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Attaining Mastery

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From The Outstanding Organization, p. 115

Karen Martin, President 858.677.6799

@karenmartinopex

Blog & newsletter: www.ksmartin.com/subscribe

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