In 2018, I had the pleasure of collaborating on a project using the fundamentals of coaching and creative problem solving to co-create a parenting value-based coaching system with Ismet Mamnoon called Parenting Up ⏫
I met Ismet at a conference on creativity and instantly loved her work and saw how I could extend her parenting work to applications in the world of business.
Together, we imagined and put online a program (in English) that aims to help parents coach children:
- By imagining the adult we’d like to help grow up
- By considering the child as a future adult
- By asking yourself what’s important to you as a parent, and what you wish to contribute and pass on.
If you’re curious to learn more about the parenting program, here’s the link to the program
I like to draw a parallel between parenthood and management: what if we helped our teams to grow on the basis of values, just as we can do for our children?
I’ve used this tool several times to support managers who were having performance and behavioural issues with teammates they managed. We looked at the corporate culture, what was important to the manager, to the teammate and the expected performance goals. Together, they worked on finding a common ground that was respectful of their values and agreed upon a development program to reach the desired goals. What could have been a messy conflict was successfully turned each time into a wonderful story of growth!
Creative problem-solving can be applied to so many situations!