Introduction

One of the most powerful takeaway I’ve had from my ORSC training is the notion of meta-skills.

I believe the term is trademarked by CRR Global as MetaSkills™

But that being said, I also think a root origin or reference of the term is the book—Metaskills: The Spiritual Art of Therapy by Amy Mindell.

Definition

Here’s the definition from the ORSC Dojo Workbook -

A MetaSkill™ is the attitude, stance, philosophy or “come from” place that the coach stands in when coaching.

I also liken it to my mindset as a coach. Putting on the mind of…or putting on the hat of…

I’ve also heard them described as—

  • What the invoke in ME, and

  • What the evoke in the SYSTEM

Examples

Here are the seven base Metaskills™ that are referenced as core to the ORSC model—

  1. Commitment

  2. Heart - entering with compassion

  3. Deep Democracy - holding a space so that ALL voices are heard

  4. Playfulness

  5. Respect

  6. Collaboration

  7. Inquiry/Awareness - showing curiosity, then saying attentive to what happens next

Applying Meta-skills in my Agile Coaching

I’ve become much more intentional in how I enter each agile coaching situation in that I stop and take a bit of time to prepare for each of them.

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One of the things I do to prepare is to consider the meta-skill(s) I should enter the coaching system with. Some that are common and useful for me include:

  • Curiosity - child-like mind

  • Deep Democracy - all voices, including the voice of the system

  • Courage / Lion’s Roar

  • Playfulness - self-deprecation, joking, light-hearted

  • Mirror - reflecting back

I usually focus on 1-2 meta-skills that I will be emphasizing in my mind before and during the coaching session. I’ve discovered that taking on too many meta-skills isn’t effective.

The wonderful thing I’ve observed is that how I enter the system (my mindset, my intentions, my meta-skills) affects the system itself. That is, the system often starts to mirror those meta-skills back to me.

For example—

If I enter a group Retrospective with the meta-skills of Curiosity and Playfulness, then the entire team seems to be more curious and playful in their exploration of continuous improvement opportunities. And all of this without me really “doing anything” but putting on those two meta-skills.

Or, when I enter a coaching session with a small group of executives, I usually put on the meta-skills of Courage, Curiosity, and Challenger. Quite often they are looking for me to provide answers to them (consultative stance) and quite often I’ll challenge them on this idea—trying to engage them in the solutioning, ownership, and partnership. But this can be a challenge to actually do, so the meta-skills help my focus.

List of potential Meta-skills

  • Commitment - for/to the system and to your coaching mindset

  • Heart - entering with compassion and empathy

  • Deep Democracy - holding a space so that ALL voices are heard; including 3’rd Entity - Voice of the System

  • Playfulness / Humor

  • Collaboration - fostering and encouraging it

  • Inquiry/Awareness - showing curiosity, then saying attentive to what happens next

  • Curiosity - mind of a child

  • Champion - appreciation, encouragement

  • Courage / Lion’s Roar / Boldness

  • Mirror - reflecting back to the system

  • Not knowing / Bewilderment - the vulnerability of bringing no “answers”

  • Wonderment - perhaps curiosity on steroids

  • Appreciation

  • Detachment - managing your edges and triggers

  • Dancing in the Moment - with the client, with the system

  • Deep listening - even to what’s not being said and the emotional field

  • Emotional Intelligence - in this case, paying pristine attention to the Emotional Field

  • Patience - allowing and encouraging “emergence”

  • Respect - showing, encouraging, modeling

  • Teacher or teaching or showing (modeler)

  • Connector - inspiring connection within the system

  • Calmness - unflappable in your coaching

  • Truth Teller - speaking truth to power

  • Disruptor - for my clients; challenging them, search for new things to reveal

  • Easy Command - easily taking control; rigor

Additional Considerations

When using meta-skills, two things are incredibly important. First, you need to meet your client (the system) where it is. There’s nothing more frustrating for the system than say, your meeting them with playfulness, when nobody is in a playful mood because there was just a nasty corporate merger.

Another part of this is considering what the systems needs. And in these cases, you may make a courageous decision to show up with a meta-skill that might not be embraced or welcome, but it is necessary or needed.

And finally consider the degree of your meta-skills. Again, you can be all-out crazy playful or just a bit playful. Keeping the system’s temperature in mind and adjusting your meta-skills accordingly, is another thing to stay mindful of.