Dorothy:  You know, Edie, today there is a big movement to include team coaching.

Edie:  Yes, big. So, we’re going back to the group again.

Dorothy: It looks like this movement is really verifying everything that you’re saying—that is it is a mistake to coach people without really looking at the impact people are making on others or creating a context where they can actively get feedback. Right?

Edie:  Right. Dorothy:  And that’s a place for them to really have the big learning shifts of seeing oneself in relation to inner experiences, feedback from others in the moment that is available to co-inquiry and exploration of what is being influenced by the context.

The Opportunity for Learning

Dorothy: Could you speak about how you now describe real learning possibilities or what you think about that in relation to coaching opportunities? If change really requires learning, what’s the relationship?

Edie:  Well, there’s no question that coaching is learning. I mean, we need to include recognizing and understanding the environmental, the systemic aspects of it. That is to say, not just to think that what’s going on in the setting has anything to do with me alone. It has to do with me because of the context I’m in. And put me in another context, and I might be doing something else.

So, I have to understand the context better than I do in many cases, be much more aware of the system. My relationships with other people also changes depending on the context. We certainly know that this is true. People say I’m not the same person at home as I am in work. Well, there has to be a reason for that.