The ”I am a Coach... really... I am” Episode

In this episode, we discuss what it means to be creative and whether there is place for learning professionals to embody creativity to support insight learning. Will will ask a series of prompt questions for discussion. He explains the difference between Transfer Learning and Insight Learning and makes the connection to being creative. Along with the prompting questions, Will defines creativity based on a synthesis of some of the latest research on the topic. Will references the Duncker Problem. The Duncker Problem is a cognitive performance test, measuring the influence of functional fixedness on a participant's problem solving capabilities. The test was created by Gestalt psychologist Karl Duncker and published posthumously in 1945. Matt references the Nails on a Nail activity. You can see it on YouTube here.

Then, Matt delivers a rant about a particular form of coaching he has been seeing in the field. Specifically, coaches who only engage clients facilitatively. They reflect what they hear and view themselves essentially as a mirror for the client to look into as one searches for a path toward a change one wants to make. The coach is not a SME and is not supposed to advise. The coach sticks to a process that gets the client to identify solutions. Please note: Matt is not attacking coaching in general. Just this particular form of it. Will coaches Matt very aggressively.

Finally, Will interviews Roger Kaufman, one of the giants in the field of Educational Tech (Instructional Design). They discuss Roger’s Mega Planning model, a framework for adding measurable value to society. Roger can be found at https://www.megaplanning.com. Roger and Will discuss one of Roger’s main themes... “If you’re organization is a solution, what is the problem.” They also discuss Roger’s partnership with Mariano Bernardez. Mariano is the current Executive Director of the Performance Improvement Institute Global Network and CEO of the Performance Improvement Institute. And in honor of Roger, Will has even added new theme music to hide our edits.🤯

Of course, we end with the Best and the Worst.

In the very beginning of the episode, we reference Laurel and Hardy and couldn’t remember their first names. They are Stan and Ollie, respectively.