Alicia takes a similar approach in working with Susan. Susan can be encouraged to reframe the problem she is experiencing with her direct report, Ralph. Susan can be encouraged to focus on Ralph’s strengths and on ways in which Ralph can more frequently be placed in settings where these strengths are effectively employed. Perhaps, he could be more actively involved in strategic planning, so that his tendency to dream becomes appropriate and helpful to the organization. Ralph might also be asked to assist with new employee orientation in the company, making use of his capacity to inspire and motivate. He might be assigned to further start-up operations or allowed to work autonomously on more projects. In order for any of these options to be explored, Susan must first be willing to reframe her perceptions of Ralph, focusing on his strengths, achievements, and potential, rather than his weaknesses or failures. This is the essence of an appreciative approach to micro-coaching.
Shifting Attention. This second way in which to reframe context requires a shift in attention—to another feature of the Contextual Interlude. The coach and client’s attention is shifted to an area that has been denied, ignored, or forgotten. (Bandler and Grinder, 1983, p. 166) A seemingly naive outsider asks: Why isn’t George at the meeting at 7:00 a.m.? Everyone knows that George has a drinking problem. The outsider brings up this issue. A coach often serves this same role. She asks the unaskable question about the forbidden topic. In this case, the unaskable question is: Why isn’t George at the meeting? And what is this organization going to do about George’s chronically unreliable scheduling? The coach couples the challenge of this difficult question with a supportive attitude. Her client soon realizes that he can reasonably discuss this issue while keeping George’s welfare in mind. He begins to address the problem of George’s alcoholism, as well as attendant problems, for the first time.
At other times, a topic is broached by a coach that previously was simply ignored or not recognized as distinctive and influential in the life of a person or organization. The culture of an organization, for instance, strongly influences the behavior of employees, yet is rarely given much direct attention. Dress codes reinforce status differences. The jargon used by various units in the organization not only defines status differences but also sensitive boundaries and barriers between certain teams. Attention to the dress and language of an individual or organizational unit, and open discussion about the impact of this dress or language, often leads to new cultural insights and changed behavior patterns. In the case of Ralph’s performance as a manager, perhaps the culture of his department (or of the entire organization) encourages a split between the real and the espoused, and places people in conflicted roles with regard to living with short-term pressures without long-term clarity of purpose. This type of reframing of the existing reality is possible when a safe, insight-filled Contextual Interlude is established by the coach and client.
Re-punctuating Events. By shifting time perspectives and definitions of beginnings and endings, we can often gain a new perspective and a new set of solutions to complex, ongoing problems. This third approach to contextual reframing concerns the “punctuation” of specific events that occur within a specific context (Watzlawick, Weakland and Fisch, 1974, pp. 54ff). Any series of interactions between two people, two units in an organization, or two organizations can be punctuated in a variety of ways, depending on the perspective of the person or persons doing the punctuating. A safe Contextual Interlude is established in which careful and candid examination of communication patterns can take place.
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