That’s the key question, isn’t it? “What will convince you that you have achieved your goal?” The answer to this question will be the evidence you need to stop striving toward your goal and celebrate your accomplishment. This evidence could be something you see, hear, feel, or a set of criteria. This is known as the “KPI of your well-formed outcome”—the key performance indicator that convinces you.
The Context of Question #18
This is Question #18, the final question in the Well-formed Outcome set of questions at ACMC. It’s a crucial question Dr. L. Michael Hall always ask when demonstrating this set at ACMC. From 2002 to 2006, we required it for ACMC certification. However, it soon became apparent that this was too challenging for the first level of Meta-Coaching. Even some Meta-Coach Trainers struggled to “lock down” a KPI on request. Consequently, we moved it to the PCMC level in 2010. By 2017, it was clear that this was also too demanding for the PCMC level, so it became part of the MCMC level.
The Challenge of the Evidence Procedure Question
Why is the evidence procedure question so difficult? The first distinction to make is that there are different kinds of KPIs. For goals involving producing a product or creating a plan, the KPI is straightforward and easy to achieve. For example, if your goal is to produce a product, the KPI might be holding the product in your hands. Similarly, for creating a plan, the KPI could be seeing or holding the business plan, blueprint, or checklist.
However, KPIs become more complex in other types of coaching conversations, such as the outcome conversation, the change conversation, or the experience/resource conversation. These are more challenging because the evidence needed may be less tangible or a mix of tangible and intangible elements.
Example: Asking for a Raise
Consider an experience coaching conversation where the goal is to ask for a raise. An initial, but incorrect, KPI might be “I will ask and get the raise.” This outcome depends on someone else (your boss) and violates Question #8, “Is it within your power or control?”
Another attempt might be “I will feel that I can go in and ask for a raise,” but feelings alone are not performance indicators. A KPI must be something the person does. A more refined KPI could be “I will be able to see myself go in and hear myself ask for a raise.” Here, the key performance is an internal, mental strategy.
Finalizing the KPI
You can ask, “Are you able right now to make an internal movie of yourself going in and asking for a raise? Can you see and hear yourself doing that?” Many clients will say “Yes.” If they do, announce, “So we are done! You can make the movie, see yourself in the right state with the right words, and ask for the raise.”
Often, at this stage, the client has not yet created the internal experience and cannot do it yet. It’s important to note this: “Oh, you don’t have a full movie with the needed words and states? Great! I have a job. That’s what we will now develop. By the end of the session, you will have that see-hear-feel movie and can play it competently and confidently in your mind.” This will be the KPI that convinces them they have what they want.
Conclusion
This process takes time with your client to get “locked in.” At the ACMC level, you will not need to do this. Typically, once the internal mental strategy is created, you can ask Question #18: “Does this see-hear-feel movie convince you that you have the experience and resource to achieve your goal?” Most often, the answer will be yes.
Curated by Danielle Tan.
Reference:
- [Certified_meta-coach] 2024 Morpheus #27 WHAT WILL CONVINCE YOU? by L. Michael Hall, Ph.D. Executive Director, ISNS.
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