Are you facilitating linear change or quantum change?

This article is a reprint of a Coaching Research in Practice  (Oct 2013).

 

Tipping points, otherwise known as ‘Aha!’ moments, are something most coaches strive to create for their clients. This issue of Coaching Research in Practice reflects on Kets de Vries’ paper, “Coaching’s ‘Good Hour’: Creating Tipping Points” (2013), explains four stages in creating tipping points and highlights several considerations for practice.

 

COACHING RESEARCH:

 

Kets de Vries describes two kinds of change that occur in coaching: linear change and quantum change. Linear change, which is a predominantly conscious process, involves a relatively predictable process of gathering and evaluating information and planning a course of action. On the other hand, quantum change, characterised by “sudden discontinuous transformation” (p. 154), involves a sudden and “deep shift in core values, attitudes, or actions” (p. 154). The latter is what is often referred to as an ‘Aha!’ moment, or, as in Kets de Vries’ paper, a tipping point.

 

Kets de Vries proposes four phases which lead to quantum change:

1. Preparation
2. Incubation
3. Illumination
4. Verification

 

In the preparation phase of quantum change individuals engage in the mental and emotional processes which, typically triggered by external events, result in them feeling sufficiently dissatisfied with the situation they find themselves in and ready to confront the status quo. “Their situation increasingly unsettles their psychological well-being” (p. 159), so much so that they can no longer deny, defend or repress it. They have recognised the need for change.

 

What follows is the incubation phase where the inner work begins. During this period, individuals begin considering alternatives that they previously did not perceive as alternatives at all, having become increasingly aware that the “isolated incidents of discontent have transformed into a steady pattern of unhappiness” (p. 160). Their ambivalence dissolves and they start to contemplate action, if not make some minor efforts towards change. They have accepted the need for change.

 

 

It is then, in the ensuing illumination phase, that “the many discontents merge into a coherent entity” (p. 160), and in hindsight this moment will be seen as a tipping point. Even though it is only perceived as minor or even trivial at the time, it is significant because it “enables a discontented person to take that long-delayed first step towards change” (p. 160). Suddenly the individual starts seeing possibilities where they didn’t before, and the energy previously consumed by the heaviness of discontent is redirected to the creation of change. Resistance has broken down and self-knowledge is on the up, as they “begin to reorganise the world in which they live in a significant way . . . letting go of the old, and accepting the new” (p. 161). The verification phase occurs next when the individual redefines the self and “new ways of looking at the world are reintegrated and stabilised” (p. 161).

 

IN PRACTICE:

 

As coaches, in our eagerness for our clients to experience ‘Aha!’ moments, there may be a tendency to skip over the preparation and incubation phases. Indeed, in the light of Kets de Vries’ discussion of the phases of quantum change, the absence of an ‘Aha!’ moment in a coaching experience may suggest that you’re moving prematurely towards the solution and trying to generate illumination, before the necessary preparation and incubation has been done.

 

Therefore, before jumping to solutions, first assess whether your clients have really recognised the need for change. You could do this by gauging their level of ‘excusitis’, or, in other words, are they still defending their current situation? If they are, to get to a tipping point, it would seem most valuable to encourage them to engage in more preparation by asking them questions to help them reflect on the impact of their current situation on their sense of well-being.

 

Similarly, before heading for new possibilities in a coaching session, you could evaluate their acceptance of the need for change, by evaluating whether they’re already considering alternatives. If they’re not, it would seem wise to spend more time incubating the acceptance of the need for change. You can encourage this by asking them questions which help them connect with the factors which are undermining their sense of well-being. You will know they have accepted the need for change, when they start pondering alternatives, without prompting from you.

 

In addition, if you find yourself lamenting about a client not taking action between sessions, this may also mean that they have not done the necessary preparation and/or incubation that leads to the ‘Aha!’ that catalyses change. By ensuring that you help your clients engage in the necessary stages of preparation and incubation, you are essentially setting the stage for illumination to occur. As Kets de Vries plainly states, “While ‘Aha!’ moments cannot be engineered, coaches can create an ambiance that becomes conducive to such transformations. They can help to create discontinuous transformational experiences,” (p. 161). As such, preparation and incubation, plus the patience to delay the focus on solutions, help to create the conditions for the ‘Aha!’ moment to emerge. When it does, remember, it may appear minor or trivial at first. Its purpose is simply to enable “a discontented person to take that long-delayed first step towards change” (p. 160).

 

Reference:

Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (2013). Coaching’s ‘Good Hour’: Creating Tipping Points. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 6(2), 152-175.

 

Translating coaching research into coaching practice,

Kerryn Griffiths (PhD)
Global ReciproCoach Coordinator

 

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