The webinar, led by Karen Martin, focuses on the role and necessary skills of improvement coaches in business performance. It emphasizes the importance of asking the right questions to enhance problem-solving capabilities and engages participants in understanding the distinction between coaching and simply providing solutions. Key topics include Socratic questioning, employee engagement, and building organization-wide coaching capabilities.

1. Webinar
July 31, 2014
Lean Coaching:
Asking the Right Questions

2.  Consultant / Coach / Facilitator / Trainer:
Lean transformation & business performance
improvement in all industries.
 Teacher: University of California, San Diego
 Author & Speaker:
Karen Martin, President
@KarenMartinOpEx
2013 Shingo
Prize winner!
www.ksmartin.com/subscribe
50% off for
limited time
on Amazon!
2

3. 3

4. For more Coaching information
See Chapter 4 - Discipline
www.bitly.com/TOObk
4

5. Learning Objectives
• The role of the improvement coach
• Necessary skills for improvement coaches
• How to accelerate problem-solving skill
building through asking the right
questions at the right time
• When it’s appropriate to “tell” people
what to do
5

6. 5 Observations & 1 Decree
1. There aren’t enough improvement “experts” to
go around in an organization.
2. Improvement “experts” aren’t content experts
(and, therefore, shouldn’t be the ones solving
problems).
3. Problems aren’t being solved quickly enough.
4. Problems aren’t being solved well enough.
5. Managers don’t know enough about the
improvement process.
6. Improvement can’t be delegated.
6

7. 7
Problem-solving
capabilities
developed?
Which target condition do you
want to achieve?
OR
Problems
solved?

8. Two Primary Responsibilities of
Managers/Leaders
8
Coaching
Get work
done
Develop
People

9. Definitional Difficulties
Mentor
Coach
Teacher
GuideCounselor
9

10. Improvement Coaching is more like sports
coaching than executive or life coaching
10

11. Employee Engagement – Gallup Findings
18
19
19
18
20
20
15
15
17
17
17
16
18
52
52
53
54
51
50
55
59
54
55
53
54
58
30
29
28
28
29
30
30
26
29
28
30
30
26
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
11
ACTIVELY
DISENGAGED
NOT ENGAGED ENGAGED
0% 100%

12. Experiential Progression?
Role
Primary
Focus
Objective
Practitioner Doing Results
Facilitator
Leading
others in
doing
Primary - results;
Secondary -
people
development
Coach
Teaching
others how
to do
Primary - people
development;
Secondary -
results
12

13. Attaining Mastery
13
From The Outstanding Organization, p. 115

14. Coaching Skills
Self-Assessment
14

15. 15
Assess your skills in three key areas
www.ksmartin.com/subscribe

16. Options for
Developing PDSA Capabilities
• Strategy Deployment
(Hoshin Kanri)
• A3 Management
• Kaizen Events
• Daily Kaizen / Kata
16
Macro
Micro

17. 17
Develop
hypothesis
Conduct
experiment
Measure
results
Refine
Standardize
Stabilize

18. 18
Detailed Steps
1. Define and break down the problem.
2. Grasp the current condition.
3. Set a target condition.
4. Conduct root cause & gap analysis.
5. Identify potential countermeasures.
6. Develop & test countermeasure(s)
7. Refine and finalize countermeasure(s).
8. Implement countermeasure(s).
Study
Evaluate
Results
9. Measure process performance.
10. Refine, standardize, & stabilize the process.
11. Monitor process performance.
12. Reflect & share learning.
Adjust
Do
Clarifying the PDSA Cycle
Plan
Develop
Hypothesis
Conduct
Experiment
Refine
Standardize
Stabilize
Phase
Continuous
Improvement
New
Problem
Often
50-80%
of the
total
time
Adjust
Adjust
Adopt
Adapt
Abandon

19. Coaching: Dual Roles
REFLECTIVE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTIVE DEVELOPMENT
From The Outstanding Organization, p. 117
Heavy use of Socratic
questioning to assess learning,
develop critical thinking, and
build confidence
Here, the coach serves as teacher.
Beware of the difference!

20. The
Problem
with
“Telling”
20

21. Warning: The Expert Turned Coach
• Be aware of the juice you get from being the expert.
– Replace with the juice of serving others
• Avoid believing that everyone needs to think and
behave the same way you do.
• Avoid “the way I would do it” thinking.
• Turn “THE” thing they need to learn to “A” thing
they need to learn.
• Be aware of moving into “do-er,” “rescuer,” or
“fixer” mode.
21

22. Socratic Questioning
• Named for Socrates
• Based on his belief that the
deepest learning results from a
disciplined practice of thoughtful
questioning.
– Way of assuring rigorous thinking
• Open-ended questions that cause
the learner to think deeply.
22

23. 23
Socratic Questions for Problem Solving
www.ksmartin.com/subscribe
pp 196-197 in The Outstanding Organization (pp 196-197)

24. Open vs. Closed Questions
• Open-ended questions
begin with:
– What…?
– Why…?
– How…?
• Closed-ended questions
begin with:
– Is /are…?
– Do / did…?
– Would / will…?
– Could / can…?
– Was / were…?
– Have / has…?
– Which…?
– Who…?
– When…?
– Where…?
24

25. Serving the Problem Solver
If the problem solver… Potential Questions
…hasn’t clearly defined the problem. What’s the problem?
Why is that a problem?
How do you know it’s a problem?
…has framed the problem as a solution or
a cause—or isn’t thinking high enough
What causes that to happen?
What problem will that address?
What larger problem does this smaller
problem cause?
…operating without data or has unclear
data.
What about the current state is not ideal?
(What “should” it be?)
What is the data telling you?
How does the data support your conclusion?
…hasn’t uncovered the root cause(s) or
hasn’t dug deeply enough.
Why does that occur?
How do you know that?
What else might explain the current state?
Only ask questions to: 1) Assess learning/understanding
2) Help the problem solver discover that he/she has more work to do. 25

26. Questioning “Don’ts”
• Masked recommendations
– Disguising your recommendation as a question (and
thinking that counts as a question)
– “Leading the witness”
• “Run on” questions
– Long questions that contain multiple questions
• “The inquisition” – asking question after
question
– Instead of pausing and allowing the person to think
26

27. Questioning “Don’ts” (continued)
• Harsh or judgmental tone
• Multi-tasking or half-listening instead of
engaging the person in a focused dialogue
• If the problem owner asks, “What do you
think?,” don’t take the bait!
27

28. Closed questions and “telling”
are acceptable when…
1. The person clearly has little or no experience with an
improvement practice or tool that’s needed.
2. You’re clarifying your understanding.
3. Listen with respect and validation; listen without judgment.
4. Listen for unspoken fears, concerns, and aspirations.
5. Use all of your senses, not merely your ears.
6. Take a mental journey and walk in others’ shoes.
7. Listen without thinking about how you’re going to respond.
8. Listen with optimism and positive human regard.
9. Confirm your understanding. (“I think what you’re saying…”)
10. Listen for “why.”
11. Listen with two hats: teacher and psychologist.
28

29. 10 Keys to Deep Listening
1. Be 100% present.
2. Listen without thinking about how you’re going to respond.
3. Listen with two hats: teacher and psychologist.
4. Seek to understand. Listen for “why.”
5. Listen with respect; listen without judgment.
6. Listen for unspoken fears, concerns, and aspirations.
7. Use all of your senses, not merely your ears.
8. Take a mental journey and walk in others’ shoes.
9. Listen with optimism and positive human regard.
10. Confirm your understanding. (“I think what you’re
saying…”)
29

30. Coaching Approach for Various Learning Stages
Problem Owner’s
Problem-Solving Skill Level
Goal What to Ask / Do
Problem-solving is spot on. Thought partner
“How’s it going?”
“What’s working well?”
“What’s not?”
“What have you learned?”
“What’s been most
surprising?”
“What are you doing next?”
“How can I help?”
Problem-solving is off course
and needs correction.
Get person back on
track
Probe using Socratic
questioning; turn to
teaching only when needed.
Problem-solving is on track,
but the problem owner is
having difficulty taking next
steps.
Build confidence;
remove obstacles;
create an action plan
Use Socratic questioning to
help person realize his/her
strengths & grow
competencies; provide
mentoring for knowledge
transfer (e.g. specific tools).
30

31. Building Organization-wide Coaching Capabilities
Executive
Team
Senior
Leaders
Middle
Managers
Frontlines
Second Coach
Second Coach
Second Coach
31

32. Skill Development Progression*
32
Unconscious
Incompetence
Conscious
Incompetence
Conscious
Competence
* Attributed to Noel Burch, Gordon Training International
Start Goal
Unconscious
Competence
Consciousness
Competence
1 4
32

33. PDSA for Improvement Coaches
Prepare for
Coaching
Session
Hold
Coaching
Session
Reflect on
Coaching
Session
Adjust for
Next Coaching
Session
33

34. Attaining Mastery
34
From The Outstanding Organization, p. 115

35. Karen Martin, President
858.677.6799
@karenmartinopex
Blog & newsletter: www.ksmartin.com/subscribe
35