Integral – Developing See, Go, Check
While most of the terms in the following article relate specifically to the Integral Coaching© methodology as taught by Integral Coaching Canada, some of the implications can be adapted and translated for other styles of coaching.
In naming a clients Way Of Being (WOB), both their Current Way Of Being (CWOB) and New Way Of Being (NWOB), we further define, refine, and fill out the actual way of being through the use of Seeing, Going, and Checking (See, Go, Check, or SGC). Each WOB has a very unique Way of Seeing, Way of Going, and Way of Checking. (I’m not going to elucidate what those terms mean – for further comprehension consider registering for ICC’s Apprenticeship program.) It is through the correct use of the SGC that we assist the client in understanding that particular WOBing. This is also the means in which we can measure progress from the client’s CWOB to their NWOB.
Remember, that this is why it is crucial to have a decent initial grasp of a WOB’s SGC. The See, Go, Check is the embodied expression of how that client is showing up in their WOBing. This is a very important point to keep reminding yourself of. The SGC is how we and clients come to know and feel the truth of their lived experience in that particular WOBing. Without that we have no substantial ground for measuring any actual growth, let alone setting the stage for the possibility of any true development. This is the magnificence of ICC’s Integral Coaching© methodology.
Also necessary to remember is that the SGC of both he CWOB and NWOB is based on and within the rigor of the AQAL Constellation™. As an Integral Coach you have spent a significant time and invested a substantial amount of focus comprehending your client through a very wide array of assessment lens. You have placed yourself within their skin to feel and Look AS your client, to discover how they orient in their existence (this itself is a remarkable distinction that on its own can provide tremendous benefit for the client). However, you have also coupled this with Looking AT the client through a handful of very well researched and cross-culturally practiced methodological assessments. The sheer scope of totality that the AQAL Constellation™ provides (even in its also partial fullness) can not be underestimated. You have taken all of this powerful application, woven it together, and infused it with your unique creative aptitude to thus indicate the client’s CWOB.
The See, Go, Check then is the vehicle in which both you and the client work within the living pattern of that Way Of Being. Initially, in your Offer, you will paint the picture of the CWOB by skillfully presenting a few SGC. The client suddenly gets a feel for what you are indicating in the expressed WOB – since it is his actual experience also! These ways of Seeing, Going, and Checking are your clients CWOB experience. Once you have opened the door he can also start adding more aspects of this particular way of being. Your client of course won’t use the terms See, Go, Check (and there is no need for him to understand those terms), yet you will start filling in your notes and deepen your comprehension of the CWOB by why your client is offering. As you know, the flow of this experience between you and your client can be very exhilarating.
Now, during the unfolding of a client’s program you will continue to discover more about the client’s CWOB. As you use the questions to shine a light on and unearth more aspects of the client’s lived experience when she is in the midst of a practice choice, she will have more experiences of how this particular CWOB Sees, Goes, and Checks. In your sessions you will continue to learn more about the WOBing just as your client did in her practice. Your job is to continue to discern the clarity of beliefs and values in the Way of Seeing, the choices based on those beliefs in Way Of Going, and then the ongoing means for the client to make sense of her choices in her Way Of Seeing.
There will become more SGC nuances that show up as the program evolves. You want to add these to your notes of your client’s CWOB SGC. Yet also, depending on the length and depth of a client’s program, you may also experience an evolution of SGC actuality within a WOB. Since each Way Of Being is an actual way, a flow of being that continues to take the client somewhere, you may become privy to witnessing that flow along its trajectory. Here’s a visual: Pick any point along a river. Stand there for a while and describe what you see. How does the water move? Where does it curl, where does it stagnate? How does it shift over time? Capture enough of this and you will be describing the SGC of the Way Of Being of that particular flow of the river. Yet the river keeps flowing. Walk along the path downstream and you will learn more about how the flow shifts and shapes. In fact, walk along the river’s bank log enough and how you how you described the what was happening upstream may not be the same as what you see downstream. Meaning, while it is the same flow you are witnessing, the way that flow actualizes itself may significantly change. Translation – the SGC of a WOB can shift and grow over time.
As you step into a program with your client, you step into their flow, and will experience the shifts of the SGC actuality. Their CWOB Way Of Going at the beginning of the program may look different than their CWOB Way Of Going in the middle of a program. How they checked out their belies during your Intake, may have additional nuances and layers near the end of a program. All these shifts exist, and are built upon each other. Your job is to continue to track these and note how within a WOB they are showing up and affecting a client within the scope of his or her topic.
These additions to a Way Of Being’s See, Go, Check, which can arise as you traverse down their river with them, are not the same as the SGC for their NWOB. Their NWOB has completely different SGC (as defined by your AQAL Constellation™ assessment). In the use of our river example this is the same as starting to follow a whole other river. As you assist your client in building more of her NWOB capacities, you start showing her there is another river that she can choose to flow down. Side by side these rivers flow, and more and more you are showing her that stepping into this NWOB flow will serve her better in her topic. As you know, this can be a challenging time for a client – one foot in each river – experiencing two different flows, while discerning which one is better for her. This is a huge reason why as the coach you must both be rigorous in how you are measuring and tracking SGC, and also very flexible in how you are interpreting and sharing SGC with your client. As much as you master Looking AS a client, you still are not the one stepping into and out of those rivers. However, until your client is feeling more able to have both feet firmly in the new river, the NWOB, you are the river guide, you are the one showing the flow, the depth, the power, and the freedom of that new flow.
As you practice more you will discover the nuances of how SGC build upon each other, within each of the CWOB and NWOB, as well as within the totality of the person – both rivers are still their flow after all. Thus, while it is crucial to hold very clear distinctions between what and how each WOB flows, our lived experiences must build upon each. There is no need to deny any aspect of the flow of our selves. Whether up stream or down stream, in one flow or another – our lives are a seamless transition of growing and awaking. You are The Way. And your job as a coach is to assist your client in realizing this truth for themselves too.
