Notes on Coaching: What I’ve Learned in Practice
Coaching is often framed as questions versus answers, but in practice it is a mix of both. In this Studio essay, I share field notes on coaching as a discipline for helping people improve outcomes in work and organisations.
Editor’s note: This piece sits within Cultivated Studio as field notes on coaching as a practice of human and organisational development. It reflects a systems view of coaching — not as therapy or technique, but as a disciplined way of helping people improve outcomes.
Notes on Coaching
Coaching means different things to different people.
The industry is full of models, certifications, and branded techniques. Some are useful. Many are performative. Over time, I’ve come to prefer simplicity — because complexity often overwhelms the people coaching is meant to help.
These are some field notes from practice.
Coaching and Consulting Are Not Opposites
In theory, coaching is about questions and discovery.
Consulting is about answers and direction.
In practice, the distinction is artificial.
Sometimes people need to be guided toward insight.
Sometimes they need to be told what is likely to work.
Good coaches move between both modes without ideology.
