The 'Aha' Moment

Completed a two days solution focus coaching training for 22 teachers at the Academy of Singapore Teachers. Really enjoyed these two days with them, especially seeing how some of them are soaking in so well. I can sense how the class became more warm and spacious and affirming towards the end of the training.

I started the course by asking them what would make the course worth the while for them. We listed their best hopes for this course on the flip charts. But one participant's best hope stood out among the rest. A highly analytical, former head of air force training command, stoically said "for this to be a useful course, I must have an 'aha' moment."

Throughout the course, he was challenging the concepts and questioning its usefulness. The essence of Solution focus approach is such that the coach is not the expert. Neither is the trainer. I set him free to accept only what he finds helpful based on his experience and context. With his years of working with youth at risk in school, he must have some expert knowledge of what is helpful for him. I even complimented his brilliance during some moments when he seems to grasps the applications of Solution Focus approach quicker than the rest.

Just before we ended the entire training, we work through the list of best hopes to see how many of them are realised. Almost all of them were fulfilled. To the surprised of the entire class, the analytical gentleman said "Yes, I had my aha moment." The whole class applauded. He even invited me to work with his school's normal technical teachers. To provide some context, this school had the most challenging situation with twice as many normal technical classes as other schools. It's a tall order but I said yes to the request. I agreed because I won't be going there as an expert. I'm going there to investigate what they have done well with these youth at risk.

Such is impact of solution focused training. It is liberating and it empowers others to be at their best!

"No problem happens all the time; there are always exceptions that can be uncovered and built on"