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Clean Gymnastics
I went to Coggeshall in Essex on Thursday to spend a day in a primary school classroom, with Julie McCracken, who has introduced her 5, 6 and 7 year-olds to the joy of Clean Language. Julie and I are writing a book together on Clean in the Classroom, so I’ve heard many tales of clean goings-on, but this was the first chance I got to see for myself how the children responded to clean questions (they call them the ‘Detail Detective’ questions). It was an action-packed day, with children both asking and answering the questions. This post is about what happened in the gym lesson.
Posted on 14 Jun 2010 by Marian Way in Clean Language, Education, Metaphor
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When 20 and 20 add up to 6:40
When I read an article in my Toastmasters Magazine about a new presentation style called Pecha Kucha (Japanese for ‘chit chat’), which involves making exactly 20 slides, and delivering them in exactly 20 seconds each, I was intrigued and decided to give it a go. The particular appeal of Pecha Kucha for me is the fact that it's based on two simple rules. I love the idea that just by following simple rules we can make something different – and sometimes very creative - happen.
Posted on 18 May 2010 by Marian Way in Clean Language, Emergence, Outcomes
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‘Tinkering’ With Clean Language
Jewels Carter runs a devised drama group at which meets on a project-by-project basis at The Art House in Southampton. They aim to to perform twice a year, and to give everyone a flavour of the whole creative process, regardless of ability.
They were a month away from performing a production called 'Tinkering' when disaster struck. Four actors pulled out en-mass with less than four weeks to go. Jewels felt she had exhausted all the ideas and so was a little apprehensive about continuing, even though it would be even worse to stop and let everyone down.
So she decided to put her new Clean Language skills to the test, and took a deep breath and asked the remaining three actors,
"What would you like to have happen?"
Posted on 21 Mar 2010 by Marian Way in Clean Language, Creativity
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The Doubts Buster
Imagine...
You know what you want.
The big goal is clear. You’ve defined your challenging and reachable goal. It is well-formed – specific, measurable, time-bound, positive and expressed in the present tense. You know the resources that will be required and the signs that will indicate that it has been reached. You’ve even broken this goal down into smaller manageable steps. The action plan is defined. You are pleased with yourself. Excited and raring to go...
Posted on 28 Feb 2010 by Rosaleen Bloomfield in Clean Language, Client Stories
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Clean and ...
Practice Group Report
It was great to see so many people last night and a special welcome to Gary, Steve, Roger, Mary, Maureen, Bob and Helen who all joined us for the first time. We hope you enjoyed the evening and that it gave you plenty of food for thought.
After the regular ‘new member orientation’ we moved onto the topic for the evening: “Clean and …”
Several people in the group use Clean in combination with other models and methodologies and the idea was to find out how they do this.
Posted on 15 Feb 2010 by Marian Way in Clean Language, Practice Group
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What’s Your Problem?
Practice Group Report
Welcome to Angie and Ros who joined us for the first time this month; we hope you enjoyed the meeting and found it useful - and that you will come again! Having been indoors for the last couple of weeks because of the snow, it was great to have an evening out and see everyone again.
Our topic this month was 'problems'. We normally emphasise the need to help clients to focus on their desired outcomes, using the PRO (Problem, Remedy, Outcome) model. This is primarily so that both client and facilitator are clear about what the coaching is aiming to achieve, and also because many clients know a lot about their problems, and not a lot about what they want. Spending time on their desired outcome redresses this balance.
Posted on 18 Jan 2010 by Marian Way in Clean Language, Outcomes, Practice Group
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Clean in the Classroom
On my very first day at infant school, I fell in love with the idea of being a teacher. How wonderful, I thought, to be standing at the front of the class telling everybody what to do. So I spent the next seventeen years working towards this ambition - and when I got my first teaching post, I walked into school feeling very proud of myself. I was a teacher at last!
But pride comes before a fall and it wasn't long before I realised that teaching mathematics in a secondary school was NOT what I really wanted to do with my life after all. I had no idea how to 'discipline' those children who saw maths as a waste of time and who would rather be anywhere than in school. I'd given up my early aspirations to be 'in charge' and I was now wanting to 'negotiate' - but I didn't know how to do so effectively, and I ended up flipping between these two positions - one minute taking a hard line with pupils, the next trying to be their friend. You can guess what happened... it wasn't nice.
Posted on 05 Jan 2010 by Marian Way in Clean Language, Education
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Should I tell my Client I am ‘doing Clean Language’ with them?
This question was the subject of a discussion at a recent training. Most of my clients know I will be using Clean Language with them - the reason they come to me is because they are particularly interested in receiving this kind of facilitation. But if you are working in the corporate world as a marketing expert or a project manager, or if you are just introducing Clean Language into your coaching practice - should you tell your clients that you are using this tool?
The question arises because when we start questioning people in this way, they start to access different kinds of information, sometimes at quite a deep level quite quickly. We always recommend that you get permission to ask people these kinds of questions, by simply asking "Would you like me to ask you a few questions to help you clarify that?" although whether you want to frame the questions as 'Clean Language' will depend on the context.
Posted on 20 Oct 2009 by Marian Way in Clean Language, Interviews
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