GOLF funda MENTAL

Counterintuitive Thinking

Let’s get one thing straight up front.  The premise of this work is counterintuitive.  The changes that you will make in your game and your life, that result from this coaching, will not be obvious, easy, or welcoming at first.  Much will depend on your ability to embrace resistance to change and seek to understand the why.  You are not going to see marked improvement by reading GOLF funda MENTAL.  The book without this coach is only half of the recipe, like apple pie without the crust.  I say this coach because, truth be told, many of the coaches that hold that title use strategies and are questionable, at best… and athletic coaches are some of the worst.  (see chapter entitled, Coaches: You Be The Judge)

For an example of counterintuitive thinking…  In their book Dichotomy of Leadership, Navy Seals Willink and Babin present a wonderful case that runs counter to their first book, Extreme Ownership.  I’ve worked with many leaders who insist on implementing a “my way or the highway” approach, which reeks from micromanagement; non-collaboration and scores low in empowerment;  In my work with corporate leaders, we challenge the dichotomy between two misunderstood concepts: responsibility versus accountability.  Where do you stand on those?  Wait until we confront the ever-notorious expectations versus intentions.  (see chapter On Dichotomies)  

Beware of Advice
Most professionals have grown accustomed to seeking tips from specialists who claim to understand “your work” better and deeper and would like to become your teachers; your trainers; your coaches.  We hail them as gurus and seek their counsel.  All well and good so long as the teaching is right-headed.  I come from an education background so I know a lot about good and bad teaching.   The good news is one can learn a lot from experts.  The bad news is whatever they teach; whatever you think you’ve learned; can be extremely short-lived… poof…gone in an instant.  
I will share in the chapter on The Brain-Mind, the work of Peter Brown, co-author of Make It Stick.  He shares memory tactics that are interesting and worthy of note.

Manage Your Own Growth
You are the GC (General Contractor) in the advancement of your game... own it!  Be skeptical.  Don't accept everything you hear or read, as gospel.  The power to discern what works for you is in your hands... so ask lots of questions... and formulate your own intentional game plan.

Dynamic between client and coach
The work that takes place between this Cognitive Performance Coach and his client is both personal and professional.  I’ve become very accomplished at developing the kind of relationship necessary to make this work.  It is a process; a journey… once I become your coach, I can be your coach for life.  Our focus is on you; not me.  I make you the expert so that you will be able to control, dominate your domain.  The famed author, Stephen Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, is well known for his “teach a man to fish” analogy.  (see chapter On Learning: A construction Process)

Speaking of books
... my golf clients and I read together... scroll down to the bottom of the page for a brief slideshow featuring a some of the authors that they have access to.

Introducing Author Peter Senge
A number of years ago I began to see this process as a system.  MIT author Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline, helped me in many ways, through his books and in his workshops, to develop a model that is both functional and elegant.  I call it Cognitive Performance Coaching and created a tool called, the wheel, to help my clients to see how it all connects.  More details to come in a chapter that explains the model and how it works.

Inasmuch as education was my chosen field, learning has been instrumental in my development.  That word, learning, is so overused and misunderstood that it truly has lost much of its punch.  The fact that all humans have been to school and have had a wide variety of learning experiences only adds to the confusion.  A chapter dedicated to learning: misunderstood, should shed some light on how fits into the coaching process. 

I tell my clients that I sit on their shoulder and peek into their brain, as we engage in our chats or conversations.  For this coaching to be successful, I need to be able to understand how my client thinks, how thoughts connect to actions, the beliefs and values that ride beneath the surface and command behavior.  I am not a psychologist so there is no Freudian analysis taking place.  This aspect of coaching is more about building relationship, listening astutely to words, phrases, and vocabulary; observing for evidence of emotion displayed as passion, joy, fear, and confidence.

“Ask don’t tell” is one of my is favorite expressions.  Questioning is the very foundation of the Cognitive Performance Coaching experience.  MIT author Hal Gregerson wrote, Questions Are The Answer… and they are.  

Years ago I developed a constructivist philosophy which in brief, places the responsibility squarely on my own brain-mind to figure out and resolve life’s many challenges.  I reject advice from others and rarely give anyone mine.  In the chapter, Opinions Are Cheap, I describe the constructivist beliefs,  how it all evolved, and how it plays out in this coaching model.

The essence and beauty of Cognitive Performance Coaching lies in its personalized approach.  No two clients are the same so the conversations that emerge are always wonderfully unique.  It is, however, the responsibility of this coach to be certain that those conversations are in dialogue form; featuring a healthy give and take.  If my colleagues, as I call them find me interrupting them frequently, they receive an on-the-spot lesson On Dialogue (Title/Book by David Bohm) and the importance of speaking and listening.  Those interruptions, when this coach gets to speak, are the critical learning interventions/opportunities as key conversation points provoke connections to concepts worthy of introduction and discussion.  

It is also a responsibility of this coach to stay on top of his game… which translates to a constant, unrelenting habit of personal and professional development.  You will see in the chapter on learning that I have more than 500 books at my disposal; I know and can recite the words of hundreds of authors who I consider to be irrevocably and inextricably connected to all of the many themes that relate to human growth.  I use rather than read my books, an original concept called cognitive assimilation (see chapter) that has me jumping in and out of precious resources that surround me each day.  

I have an ever growing external network (separate chapter) that informs me on a daily basis about new developments in this arena.  Hardly a week goes by that Amazon doesn’t deliver at least one new book to add to my collection.  Whether it be a quick e-mail from Harvard Business Review or a text featuring the latest webinar by The NeuroLeadership Institute, the network feeds my passion for knowing.

Learning: A Constructivist Approach 
Is It possible that we have had it wrong for so many years?  Has a life of schooling been a complete waste of time?  If I can’t remember anything from Chem 101 and the periodic tables, does that mean I’m stupid?  I got an A in Chem.  Learning is complicated.

First lets look at contextual versus de-contextual learning.  Open your text book to page 224 is the beginning of the de-contextual journey.  While books have now advanced with technology to offer a more realistic experience, it is still a far cry from actual “fieldwork.”   If last night’s reading is followed by today’s lecture, there is little chance that both treatments are gong to resemble a long-term learning experience.

What makes matters worse, the standard form of teaching or training, either in school or on the job, is likely to be “set-and-get.  The expert has the knowledge and chooses to impart that on his subjects.  In my work as a coach, I have been on the receiving end of a host of complaints about boring training sessions that are nothing more than, check the box, I was there, kinds of sessions.

Constructivist pedagogy is built on the principle of sense-making.  Humans, in the process of learning, need to figure things out for themselves.  Until they wrestle with the unknown; until they struggle with concepts that don’t initially make sense; and work at unpacking for meaning; there is really not learning taking place.  So confusions, misunderstandings, errors and mistakes, incorrect assumptions, wrong interpretations, are all part of the journey that move from the unknown to the known.

The human brain is more of a sieve than a sponge, so whatever it is that makes sense today, may well be gone tomorrow, unless we act on that experience.  Repetition that is disengaged from thinking could be time spent perfecting nonsense.  Problem solving with quick fix solutions delivered by others is yet another example of time wasted without long term impact.

Truth be told, my clients continually describe their frustration with this lifelong being told what to do scenario.  It all began with well meaning parents, continued in institutions like church and school, and continues to this day in companies and organizations that depend on a false premise that improving performance requires telling, showing, exhibiting, demonstrating, monitoring, and correction.  The ever present form of performance management buys into that game and, over time, demonstrates just how unproductive it really is.

More to come:

• ​Cognitive Assimilation and the 15-Minute Rule

• The Cognitive Performance Coaching Wheel and how it works

• Coaches: You be the Judge

• Ask Don’t Tell: Questioning is Key

• The Brain-Mind Connection and Power

• Executive Function Skills

• On Performance Improvement

• Dichotomies to Consider on and off the Links