Positive Provocation - by Robert Biswas-Diener (Paperback)

About the Book

"Positive Psychologist and coach challenges conventional coaching wisdom to help you bring your practice to the next level. Positive Provocation is a series of 25 short provocations aimed at engaging coaches in reflection about their own practice. Each provocation is approximately three to five pages long and addresses tropes, sacred cows, and other familiar aspects of coaching proactive. Each includes attention to research, the introduction of fresh concepts, and suggestions for applying these to coaching. These meditations are on-brand for Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener, who is widely known for both his thought leadership in coaching and his challenging style of training and coaching. Robert refers to his fresh perspective as a "90-degree view." If each person looks at life from a zero-degree view-everybody has immediate access to their own thoughts, memories, feelings, and perceptions-than the most challenging opposition comes from a 180-degree view. As a coach and educator, Dr. Biswas-Diener prefers a 90-degree angle; one that is just provocative enough to feel fresh and to get people to sit up and take notice but not so challenging that it makes people defensive or leaves them feeling invalidated. The promise of Positive Provocation is the promise of coaching itself: a chance to have new questions asked of the reader, an opportunity to reflect, and an emphasis on practical application"--

Book Synopsis

Hone your skills and strengthen your practice with this series of twenty-five fresh and provocative questions for reflection that challenge the conventional wisdom in the coaching profession.

Like any established profession, coaching is full of unexamined assumptions. These need to be regularly questioned and tested to keep the profession vital and valuable. Coaches need to engage in the same kind of scrutiny and self-examination that offers such powerful benefits to their clients.

In Positive Provocation, coaching thought leader Robert Biswas-Diener asks a series of twenty-five provocative and sometimes playful questions that take a fresh look at some of coaching's most cherished beliefs. What if coaches had agendas? Why are ethics so boring? What's so great about interrupting? Can we trust eureka moments? What if we used less empathy?

This is not an attack on the coaching profession--Biswas-Diener writes with a light, conversational, and often humorous touch. These are positive provocations, meant to stimulate your curiosity, engage you with the latest research, and invite you to see your practice with new eyes.

Biswas-Diener covers philosophies of coaching, communicating with clients, common coaching concepts, coaching interventions, and a big final provocation: should coaching be informed by science? This book will give you a richer understanding of the coaching process, make you more articulate about your own beliefs, and allow you to feel more engaged with the craft.

Review Quotes

"Being provocative, at its best, invites us to open our minds, to rethink established norms, and ultimately to become better versions of ourselves in the process. Robert Biswas-Diener has delivered another master class in provocation here--challenging some of the most conventional practices in professional coaching with fresh questions, research, and artful storytelling. If you are a coach looking to grow, this book is for you."
--Joshua Steinfeldt, PCC, Coach Community Manager, BetterUp

"What rules need to be followed, and which ones is it time to break? Robert Biswas-Diener brings exactly the right type of provocation to how we practice coaching."
--Michael Bungay Stanier, author of The Coaching Habit

"This book is unique. Robert Biswas-Diener challenges the status quo in coaching and positively provokes the reader to question some ideas that are usually taken for granted. A must-read for novice and advanced coaches."
--Dr. Andrea Giraldez-Hayes, Programme Director, Master of Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology, University of East London

"This is the most engaging and thought-provoking book about coaching that I have ever encountered! Robert Biswas-Diener, the field's most daring provocateur, poses insightful questions that challenge deeply held assumptions about coaching practice. Engaging with these provocations will surely support you to reflect on and enhance your coaching practice!"
--Christian van Nieuwerburgh, Professor, Centre for Positive Psychology and Health, University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

"If you want to turn your brain inside-out and take an utterly new look at what you think about coaching, this is the book for you."
--Dr. Carol Kauffman, founder of the Institute of Coaching, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School

About the Author

Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener is widely known as the Indiana Jones of Positive Psychology because his research on happiness has taken him to far-flung places such as Greenland, India, and Kenya. He has published more than 70 academic papers and has a citation count in excess of 20,000. Robert is an International Coaching Federation certified coach and a Gallup certified strengths coach, and he trains coaches at his company, Positive Acorn.