What happened before Thanksgiving?
“Well. First there was a week in Guadalajara with my four-year-old son. The highlight of which was our first experience with lucha libre – Mexico’s acrobatic version of professional wrestling.”
What was that like?
“Lots of fun. Theatrical and fun. I got my son a blue and white mask – The Hurricane – and he wore it for the next three days, often without a shirt. He would tell me to take off my shirt, too, so that we could wrestle. ¡Para luchar, Papá! The whole thing was wonderful and absurd.”
What came next?
“Balance class in Boston, that weekend.”
What made you choose Boston?
“I’m from there originally.”
That’s why I asked.
“I planned to take the class in Seattle. Then a SAFe-certification course became available in San Antonio during the week I’d planned to be in Seattle, and I didn’t want to fall too far behind on my CTI curriculum, so I tried Los Angeles, but that class was full. I texted my oldest sister, the only one of the six of us still living in Massachusetts, and she promised I’d not be disrupting her family’s life too completely by spending the weekend with them, and there I was.”
What were your expectations?
“Not high for the class. The Massachusetts I left in 1992 was a cold, sarcastic, dark and biting place. I expected my classmates to be that way. I expected the drivers to be that way. I expected everyone except my sister and her husband and two daughters to be that way.”
What surprised you?
“That no one was that way. My classmates were warm and welcoming. The instructors were great. The material was engaging. The motorists – with whom I spent a goodish number of hours driving each day from Natick to Boston – were courteous. The weekend dramatically altered my feelings about Massachusetts.”
What do you feel now?
“That Massachusetts may not have changed as much as I have. Perhaps the state was always the way I experienced it this time. Perhaps I supplied much of the coldness and sarcasm I sensed in others.”
What did you do for Thanksgiving?
“My wife and her dad and her dog and I continued our Thanksgiving-picnic tradition. When we moved to San Antonio from Phoenix 10 years ago, we didn’t know anyone, so we decided to pack a picnic basket and take it to a different state park each year. It’s a roll of the dice with weather, and it’s an adventure.”
What was your greatest lesson from Balance class?
“The importance of space and geography in coaching. The importance of moving clients. That physical movement changes perspectives, or makes changed perspectives possible, at least as much as words do.”
What else?
“Improvisation. I’ve begun incorporating a two-minute improvisation session at the beginning of my coaching sessions. To get the client’s mind unstuck. To get things going in a playful and self-accepting direction. I love coaching.”
What’s next?
“Implementing SAFe next week – the big one. It’s a four-day class followed by a very difficult exam. But if I can pass that, I’ll have my SPC certification, which will bring me ever closer to my goal of being an Agile coach. And then I’ll coach and coach and coach.”
What else?
“And coach!”