The Purchasing Coach: Unconventional tools

My name is Alison Smith, and I often use unconventional tools when coaching, and also when facilitating sessions.

There I've said it, and here's why I use these unconventional tools:

• The main reason is they're very effective at inspiring change (more about that in tomorrow's post).
• They really are effective in a business context - as, for example, the CIPS board of management, Scottish Institute for Business Leaders, and Professional Speaking Association in Scotland can confirm.
• They're effective because they're very good at bypassing resistance to change.
• They're different - which means they retain people's attention longer as individuals puzzle and wonder about what's going to happen next.
• I'm very good at using them to facilitate change - the feedback I get supports that I keep the session grounded and aimed at achieving the goals, at the same time as expertly using my intuition to guide clients in the direction of maximum growth to unlock potential. 
• I'm good at keeping a healthy sense of fun in the session.   
• I love using them - there's nothing so satisfying as not knowing where a session will go, and then facilitating the client's journey, and seeing the difference it has made at the end.
• I like new, creative and innovative tools that tap into our unconscious - because just like an iceberg the solution is more likely to be found in what we're not logically and consciously aware of. 

I spoke in more depth about the unconventional tools in my 2016: my year in blogs post.

Here's a quick introduction to a few of them:

I'm spending the afternoon today facilitating a Transformation Game - it's a tool I use in personal coaching sessions, and is very effective at helping clients identify and remove what's holding them back from achieving a goal they have in any area of their life. (The hypertext link takes you to a transcript of game on finding work/life balance.)

It's not for the fainthearted, and its business cousin the Frameworks for Change Coaching Process is a tool I'm more likely to use in business coaching and facilitation sessions.

Other sessions might include making or exploring collages:

or pipe cleaners (the example here was the antidote to lack of communication in an organisation)

or using nature as a metaphor for our lives (if for example they want to feel more grounded)

or exploring the sayings people are using (such as having their head in the sand)

I said they were unconventional. The hypertext links above take you to blogs providing more detail about how a session using each of these tools might work. There's also more unconventional tools in the post I wrote in December last year (including walking meetings).

(Post script addition: more here from a recent Scottish Institute for Business Leaders (SIBL) meeting when I used 2 of these tools to facilitate change for a small group of SIBL members).

Please don't let the above pictures put you off - as I said in the opening I use them because they're effective. The session using pipe cleaners in a supplier management workshop is a recent example where some truly transformative solutions emerged.

I don't use every tool in every session, and some sessions stick with more traditional tools (from my NLP or business toolkits for example for goal setting or communication planning). Some group's resistance to unconventional tools also steer me in other directions. That is, the aim of achieving the outcome for a session is paramount - with the means of achieving it being adapted to suit the outcome, audience and organisation.

For more detail on what a session might look like for you do get in touch - alison@alisonsmith.eu  +44(0)7770 538159. I look forward to hearing from you.

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring Change Inside and Out

This first week of 2017 I'm exploring the topics that make me tick - those topics that inspire my action (including the odd rant), and that are subjects that I share often in the procurement consultancy, speaking and coaching work that I do. They're also subjects that I have expertise in, enjoy, and that also make a difference when applied well.

Posts so far this week have covered:

• Don't leave your humanity at the door - because I get frustrated when I hear people tell me that we have to leave our authentic selves/humanity at the office door, and instead apply rules that cause other people and the planet great distress. I believe taking our humanity to work with us is what being a B Corp is all about, and is something I'm going to be talking to B Corporations about during the year. 
• Language - because words have power, and we often unconsciously use words that hinder us achieving our goals.  
• Soft skills - because if your goals rely on working with other people soft skills are the fastest way to achieving them
• Use of unconventional tools - as above 

Topics to be covered later in the week include:

• Procurement in large corporate organisations - because it's the environment I've worked in for over 30 years, and in addition to the tools above also applied more conventional tools to category management and supplier management. 
• Creativity and Innovation - because there's a law of diminishing returns, and if we keep doing what we've always done we get what we're always got!  
• Inspiring change - because effective change comes from motivated people. 

Day 15: 4 new habits in 28 days - Transformation

Today I want to apply another tool I use in coaching to help me to embed the 4 new habits to support my arthritic knees. The tool is soul collage cards. 

I used the collage cards on day 8 when I developed a card to represent what would happen if I kept doing what I was doing. It won't really need to make sense to anyone else so long as it does me :-)   

I said in the blog that what I was moving away from wasn't as much of a inspiration and motivation for me. Today I'm looking fowards.

When I first learnt about soul collage cards at the Findhorn foundation I made a number of collage cards that resonated with insights from the workshop we'd had earlier in the week, or from my experiences using the Transformation Game* for over 10 years. 

I thought it useful to remind myself of 4 of these insights today.

If you have an issue you'd like more clarity on then do please put it to the back of your mind as you review the cards, and just notice what you notice. 

If each card had some advice for you what would they say? 

It's not just about observing the cards logically from the mind - but letting the heart and soul into the action. And yes that can take practice to do. Especially as we're all so much more comfortable using our mind to explain everything! 

The above card represented swimming in a pool, and then having the walls pulled away and realising you're actually swimming in deep water. For some people a more daunting place to be, but for me there's no comparison between a chlorinated and busy pool, swimming up and down, to swimming in deep water.

A reminder perhaps to not make these 4 habits simply a daily tick list to do, but see them more as a new way of being? 

The trainer spoke of door A and door B - much the same way as the red and blue pills in the Matrix film. 

That is, we have the option of taking the safer option, of staying with the old habits and just doing what we've always done. 

Or we can choose to do something different, and take door B - even if it might involve going through the flames just like a phoenix (if I'm not mixing too many metaphors), it does allow us to be reborn anew into a new reality.

Blimey - these cards do seem to be making these 4 new habits into something much bigger than I first imagined!

There's a setback card in the Transformation Game*, a tool that originated in the Findhorn Foundation, and it says:

For forgot you were a Radiantly Beautiful Cosmic Miracle - you forgot everyone else was too. 

The above collage was my interpretation of those words.

It's always a reminder for me to be me - and to remember that I am more than enough. No need to listen to the shoulds, oughts and musts. To just listen to my heart and soul and act from there. Or perhaps it's about directing my will in that direction (that certainly feels right as I type it - even if my head hasn't quite caught up with the full meaning of 'directing my will towards the direction of my heart and soul!?!)

There's a 'transformation square' on the transformation game, and when you land on it there's a meditation that invites you to walk through a door into what Theory U might describe as the emerging future.

As I imagined walking through the door in one game I found myself at the top of a cliff and a favourite poem of mine came to mind.

“Come to the edge, he said.

We are afraid, they said.

Come to the edge, he said.

They came to the edge,

He pushed them and they flew.

Come to the edge, Life said.

They said: We are afraid.

Come to the edge, Life said.

They came. It pushed them...

And they flew.”

It's most often cited as being written by Guillaume Apollinaire.

The above collage is my representation of that image.

Time to fly perhaps? 

Which also reminds me of a picture I sent to a friend this week:

Oh dear that does all feel quite BIG!

I realise the cards were all saying the same thing, just looking at it from a different perspective. Not too much of a surprise when I remember that the workshop was entitled the alchemy of transformation, and tools I often use in coaching are called The Transformation Game and The Frameworks for Change Coaching Process :-)

What insight did you get from these images that you can apply to your situation - and what action will you take and when? Do you need to tell anyone about this commitment?

Alison Smith

The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring Change - Inside and Out

The blog posts of the journey to embed 4 new habits in 28 days have so far included - finding the inspiration, vision and goal setting, setting targets, doing things differently, wavering, finding support, commitment, the danger of making assumptions, measuring progress, slaying the old habits and thoughts and, by use of the Frameworks for Change Coaching Process I use in coaching, being invited to be less perfect, and to be kinder to myself.

The 4 habits feel a little mundane when taken in isolation. These cards have reminded me that these new habits are about supporting me having flexible and pain-free knees. Which would truly be transformative and life changing if it was achieved. A great reminder to persevere, especially when I didn't do even one of these habits one day this week!:

1. I will consistently eat gluten free every day 13/15 (and nightshade 12/15)
2. I will do my hip mobilisation every day 14/15
3. I will drink at least 2 litres of water every day 14/15
4. I will do at least one thing differently every day 14/15 - Rather than wait till the end of the month I uploaded this week's receipts onto my invoice for a client. (I can't believe I've not done that before, I generally dread the end of the month because of this).

I did have one day this week where I didn't achieve even one of the above. Busy work, driving and late home, and therefore no focus nor attention on the task in hand. A sign perhaps that they have yet to become a habit that I do automatically without any thought - or just a busy day :-).

Hypertext links in the text above link to previous blogs written on the subject.

#28daychallenge

* The Transformation Game ©Innerlinks - www.innerlinks.com

Summary: The tools I use to facilitate and coach others

I'm not going to cover the category management, sourcing, supplier management and business tools I use in the work I do for Future Purchasing or other procurement consultancies today.

This post is more about providing you with a summary of the blogs I've written about the unique tools I use in group facilitation and personal coaching - in procurement contexts and more broadly in other business settings. Whether directly with clients or via the other consultancies.

These blogs also share the benefits delivered of using these unique tools - which can be summarised as helping groups or individuals to achieve one or more of the following:

• Identify where they are
• Identify where they want to get to (for example strategy development might be a session in it's own right)
• Understand what's stopping them getting there
• Release what's holding them back 
• Take appropriate action towards their goal

More here on a pinterest board I developed on the benefits of coaching.

As I said in my "But I don't do soft fluffy stuff" post many of the reasons we're not achieving what we say we want can be found in the soft fluffy stuff. So just as it's no use looking for the car keys in the bathroom if you know you left them in your coat - it's the same with resolving what's holding you back - the answer often lies in the soft fluffy stuff and there's a number of ways of getting at that - some more comfortable than others - some certainly less intrusive than others. It sort of depends if you want to get to the root cause or not, or if you're happy just putting a plaster/band aid on it.



NLP

• A more general blog on NLP - most coaching/facilitation sessions start with some form of introduction around the subjects raised in this post to help people understand why they need to change and therefore be more open to using these tools.
• Values - impact of personal values on our success or otherwise
• Business values - do they exist - I suggest not
• How our values get in the way
• What gets them out of bed in a morning - stakeholders values
• Standing in their shoes - such an insightful process - try it and see
• Well formed outcome - better than SMART goals I'd suggest - or a great addition anyway
• Identity - and the impact it can have on how we feel
• Rapport - reminder of what it involves

Language

The language we use gives so much away about how we process information, our beliefs and our values. Which means it's also a great means of solving the problems too.

• Making mountains out of molehills - my most popular post
• No pain, no gain - another popular post
• Oh no it's Sunday - don't wish your life away
• In need of a facelift - how use of that term about the UN shed light on the solution
• Deadlines - are they killing you?
• Be careful of the paths you tread - another meaning behind the CIPS president's words
• Up a creek without a paddle - how the words give you a clue to the solution
• In a rut - and how to get out of it 
• Is your head buried in the sand - musing if it were buried in the sand - with a great picture!
• Find your inner Picard - yes of Star Trek fame
• I don't want to burn any bridges - great example of how the language used was keeping this client stuck
• What's the organisations operating metaphor - is work like war/a race or a garden?
• Is an integrated commercial landscape even possible - interesting musing on how the language might point to the solution for government procurement 
• Hate or Love - a bit of a rant aimed at the British Heart Foundation about their use of the word Hate
• What do you call your stakeholders/customers - could just be why the relationship is as it is
• What's winning in your world the good, the bad or the indifferent - language is sooooo powerful
• Language to improve rapport - a great reminder
• Language that improves understanding - ditto

Landscaping Your Life (LYL)

I could write a book on metaphors - if a picture paints a thousand words then a metaphor paints a thousand pictures. One metaphor I use a lot is landscapes and nature. I describe it as 'using nature as our teacher'. Nature has been used for thousands of years as a tool of insight and it's still used as such for a reason - because it works.

• LYL Pinterest Board - a number of examples of how nature can be used to explore challenges you might have
• YouTube Channel - a LYL playlist with a number of video blogs on the subject
• An insightful walk in nature - insights from just going for a walk
• Incomplete patterns - expanding your thinking to include the whole picture
• Connecting with your audience - using the LYL process
• Business strategy development - a board of management's strategy away day
• Speaking with confidence - using the process
• Are your relationships crumbling - a series of blogs using nature to improve your communication with others
• Impatience does not serve us well - insight from nature on timing
• Are you getting enough perspective
• How's the weather with you - wondering if the national weather has an impact on how we do business - musing really
• Don't keep doing the same things - a personal favourite
• The solution is right infront of you - :-) it was

I also use gardening as a metaphor for purchasing when training internal stakeholders what it's all about.

• Pinterest board
• Sowing the seeds of cost reduction in your business
• Also see YouTube channel for LYL above

Postscript: a Landscaping Your Life website was launched in November 2015 - so for more on this effective process do please go and visit.

Collage

I only started using this tool in November 2014 and have been blown away by it's effectiveness in a business setting. I'd thought it was purely for personal coaching, and yet am finding it a great addition to the other business tools used.

• Facilitating change for the Scottish Institute for Business Leaders
• Collage applied to improving relationships at work
• Overview of the collage process

Frameworks for Change Coaching Process (FCP)

This process is the business version of the tool below, and I've been successfully using it in business sessions since 2005.

• FCP - applied to improving relationships at work
• Youtube - a playlist with a couple of video blogs on the subject
• Staying on track - insight from use of the FCP
• Coaching insight on being heard - how to be
• Keeping on track in a down turn - a session with the Scottish PSA

Other card sets I have used include Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies and Roger Von Oech's Creative Whack pack. All tools that help you to explore a situation to gather more data about what might be holding you back.



Transformation Game

Of all the tools I use this is the only one that is only applicable in a personal setting. It's a game and takes 2.5 hrs per person to play and is hugely insightful. I'm not sure these blogs do it justice but I had to try

• Transformation Game - applied to improving relationships
• I intend to have work life balance

So far this week I've shared summaries of blogs written on soft skills, procurement and the rant's I have on our disconnection from what it is to be human!

Congratulations if you got to the end of that list - such a great reference for me and anyone wanting to know how I do that I do, and the benefits that I deliver as a result.

Do call me if you think any of these tools might be of interest +44 (0)7770 538159 Alison@thepurchasingcoach.co.uk

Alison Smith
Inspiring change inside and out when what you're doing isn't working

Personal Relationships - Transformation Game

I've saved the 2 tools I use in a personal setting until last - yesterday I shared more about using collage cards. Today I'd like to share with you more about the Transformation Game - a fantastic tool for personal and spiritual growth which can be played solo or with up to four people (with a facilitator or on your own if you buy the game (available from Amazon)).

As the theme this week has been about improving business relationships I thought I'd continue the theme into a Transformation Game and just see what happens. 

In order to get more from reading this blog you might want to think about a relationship you'd like more insight on?  What benefits would you obtain if the relationship was to improve? Would it be useful if you were able to understand what actions to take to release the current phase of the relationship? 

There's more here on how a Transformation game works so I won't bore you with the details and will simple jump straight in. (Although a cuppa might help as you reflect on my notes from the game that when facilitated can take up to 2.5hrs per person playing.)

Suffice to say the Transformation Game is a board game, has a number of squares on each person's 'life' path, playing pieces and a die and to finish you have to work your way up through 4 levels (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual) and have no pain.

Along the way your experience of landing on the squares provides insight to the problem being explored (or should that be - your unconscious helps you see the patterns in common between the game and the situation). 

 

There is much more to a game than words here can ever hope to convey so for ease of understanding I won't share much of the means of moving up levels just the insights and challenges from the different squares.

And yes it can go deep - which is why it's used in a personal not business setting. The more accessible process for business is Frameworks for Change Coaching process the Transformation Game's cousin.


Intention: I intend to improve my relationships with others in a business context. 

Guardian angel (well I did say it was a personal development tool :-) and if you're uncomfortable with the word angel just consider them more as a mentor or role model of the behaviour written on the card ) - Inspiration 

Our relationship with others can get very stale and full of difficulty if we're not very happy. This card reminds me to do the things that inspire me - whether that's walking in nature, singing at the top of my voice to my 'happy' playlist or, as someone reminded me this week, making collage cards.

When we're full of inspiration our ability to be with and relate to others improves considerably. So too our ability to see alternate ways of relating to others. 

 

What inspires you the most and when did you last do it? 

Physical level

Blessing square: share awareness with others

I love this square - always a great reminder to be of service to others freely and unconditionally - just by sharing our awareness. How often in business do we hold back because we don't think it's our job, or they didn't ask or think we can only give if we get something back in return etc.

A reminder for us to freely share our thoughts and insights with others.

Insight square: there is no power in all of creation greater than love.

It's so easy at work to leave everything that makes us human and uniquely us at the door. To put on the stereotype of being in business (or for me the alpha buyer stereotype working in procurement) and feel that the softer values and behaviours are not appropriate. 

 

Yes we have to make hard decisions at work but that doesn't mean we can't appreciate and show kindness and yes even love (compassion is perhaps a better word in a work context?) to others. After all we're all human beings with the same basic needs - why exclude them from our relationships at work.

NB: As your read this summary of the game please note if any of the words resonate for you and more importantly identify what action you may wish to take as a result. After all nothing will change in a relationship unless you're prepared to make changes.

Emotional level

Depression square - I am setback by failure - I get 4 pains that will slow me down until they've been cleared using 'appropriate' awareness tokens.

Depression is a very restricting place to be - no energy, nor access to insights nor ability to make the right decisions. It can be very debilitating and will certainly negatively impact our relationships at work. 

The setback asks us to consider that the source of the depression is failure - actual perceived failure, or perhaps fear of failure, or even others attitudes to the decisions we've made.

(In a game we'd spend some time understanding more about how we relate to this pattern of failure and how it sets us back. So if this is resonating do spend a little more time exploring this before reading further).

 

Let's see what squares we land on next that will provide awarenesses to enable us to release this depression and the pain arising from the 'failure'.

Appreciation square

I am invited to appreciate another person and then myself. How easy to forget to do either.

When did you last appreciate another and what about taking time to appreciate yourself? 

 

A great reminder that appreciation and gratitude are great means of shifting our mood, and in this instance releasing our depression. Dr David Hamilton has written much about the links between appreciation and wellbeing. 

The awareness cards that I pull as a result of landing on this square are Forgiveness and Absurdity. I wonder who needs to be forgiven in relation to the failure - me, the other person?  And how does absurdity relate? Would others see the 'failure' as such, or am I just being absurd and overly critical and letting my inner critical voice depress my energy? 

 

Other awarenesses of laughter and authenticity are then also used to clear the pain. Certainly these are all words that remind me to just be me - if the other person doesn't like that then that's ok but it's no use being carnelian like to appease their preferences.

Intuition square - I intuit to take an angel - responsibility 

I could go a few ways with this card. 

It could be about taking responsibility for improving the relationship rather than just expecting the other person to. 

 

Although I do also wonder if it might be about taking responsibility for our feelings and not blaming the other person. They are simply being true to themselves. Therefore staying around and just getting frustrated and continually being surprised by their behaviour isn't helpful. 

 

(Obviously its easier to explore how this card might relate with a real rather than hypothetical situation. After all in a real situation we have our unconscious or inner wisdom helping us find our own meaning as we traverse our route through the game.) 

 

What would a role model of responsibility you know do in this situation? 

Angel square - surrender and freedom

What a pair to add to the angel I already have. What would a mentor for each do in the situation?

So easy to see surrender as negative rather than positive which is why it's easier to think of someone who has positively demonstrated this behaviour. 

I love the pictures on the cards - a reminder perhaps of choosing which battles to stick around for. That is knowing when staying around to fight is a good idea or, when it's negatively impacting your health, realising that surrendering to what is and just walking away is a better idea.

Mental Level

Free will square - I decide to take a pain free setback - of procrastination

Pain free setbacks are more about releasing any lingering attachment we have to this setback. I can certainly relate to that - having procrastinated on a number of actions in late 2014, and having found a new lease of energy as we start 2015. 

Perhaps also a reminder that timing is everything and procrastination can be useful for a while as we prepare the right environment for our action (a bit like waiting to sow seeds till the spring.)

Have you or are you able to release procrastination's hold?

As a result of correctly using my free will I take an angel - education 

Personally a reminder that I thoroughly enjoyed the three weeks intensive training we delivered prior to Christmas. I was fortunate enough to deliver training on my two loves - procurement and soft skills. Certainly a time when my relationships with others were at their height as I was inspired by the work I was doing, and in turn that percolated out into all areas of my life.

What is this card bringing to mind for you? How is education part of the solution to the current situation? 

Blessing square - as above sharing awareness with others, and it was certainly something I did a lot before Christmas. The line "I wrote a blog about that" being a common quote on the training having written a lot on influencing and trust in October.

Intuition square - move to an angel square - compassion & transformation

Wow compassion and transformation feels like a very powerful energy. Can't help but feel these bring together much of the learning thus far - being me, relaxation and letting the heart into what I do - even at work. 

(Remember you may want to consider mentors who are particularly good at compassion and transformation and think about what they would do in the current situation.)

Spiritual level

Blessing square - yes another blessing square and a common pattern of mine - a continued reminder to share insights and awareness with others. 

Although having landed on a blessing square on the physical, mental and spiritual levels perhaps a reminder not to pull back from sharing spiritual awareness, as well as the more mental insights I often write about. 

What about you - do you pull back from sharing yourself in certain areas of your life? 

This pattern in the game might be inviting us to open up more in our relationships (after all if it wasn't a pattern that resonated I wouldn't notice it :-) - that's why our unconscious is so useful when playing a game - it's not the words themselves that are the key but our interpretation of them in relation to the intention).

Transformation square - because I land on this square (the only one of this type on my life path), and I'm on the spiritual level, my game is complete.
 

There's a lovely meditation that accompanies landing on the transformation square which talks of walking through a doorway which reminds me of the doorway described in the DVD and book choicepoint. When I last landed on this square the image I had during the mediation was of me walking through the doorway onto a cliff edge, stepping off and flying - much like this collage card I made to represent it!

Because the transformation square completed by game I can now remove the final cards out of my personal unconscious envelope. These cards are:

 

Insight: tough assignments are only given to the best students 

:-)

Pain free setback: you are set back by your laziness 

Because of how we've pulled this card I think it's more like a pat on the back for releasing the energy of laziness, or a reminder to release any lingering laziness that's slowing life down.

Pain free setback: looking for the worst in people? Expecting the worst situations? No wonder you live in a hostile and painful world. 

Over the years this card has come up a lot for me. I'm glad it's now appeared pain free as a sign, I hope, that I've learnt of the benefits of replacing pessimism with optimism. 

 

Is this a pattern you run and if so what would your relationships be like if you were able to move beyond it - to no longer be set back by its power. Reread the card again if you doubt it's negative impact.

 

Insight: you balance former feelings of inadequacy by loving your own uniqueness

Isn't that what the rest of the game seems to have been about - loving our own uniqueness and taking that into all relationships in our lives.  

Would love to know if you've had any ah-ha's as you've read these notes which has really just been my interpretation of them.

I hope you've got a sense of how powerful the Transformation Game can be.

I also hope you've realised that if it was to be applied to a real life situation it would allow your unconscious to prompt you about what needed realsing, and the truths to be remembered.

Not for the feint hearted but it never fails to amaze for those prepared for the discomfort as it takes you on a journey - one that has the potential for transformation if you're willing to jump off that cliff :-). 

I also hope as the series of blogs has continued this week you've obtained insight into what you might want to stop, start or continue doing in order to improve the business and personal relationships in your life. Would love to hear your thoughts - either in comments below or directly at alison@thepurchasingcoach.co.uk or even call me +44 (0)7770 538159.

Alison Smith

Inspiring change inside and out - when what you're doing isn't working 

The process, the insight, setback and angel cards used here are from the Transformation Game ©Innerlinks - www.innerlinks.com. ANGEL ® CARDS (a registered trademark of InnerLinks, Asheville NC, USA) © 1981 Drake and Tyler; produced by Narada Media, 4650 N. Port Washington Rd, Milwaukee, WI 53212 USA. Use by permission.