Postcard from the Edge

The W.O.R.G model

Photo by 愚木混株 cdd20 on Unsplash

The G.R.O.W. model (Goal, Reality, Options, Will) is a heuristic of choice in coaching. It has been taught to countless thousands of managers and accepted almost as an algorithmic process. And that’s the problem I have with it,

It is not a bad tool—but it is a child of the performance era. It doesn’t matter what your goal is, just GROW it, and your KPI, KRI, KRA, OGSM, OKR or other performance acronym will hold its hands up in surrender, your appraisal will be sweetness and light, and you will be given a bigger goal.

If the purpose of your life is performance judged by others, fine.

But what if we looked at it backwards; what if we used the W.O.R.G model instead this morning?

Will -What is it that the quiet voice, which has not and will not give up on you no matter how many times you ignore it, is asking of you this morning? What might you contribute in your astonishingly brief time here? What is it that your spirit, your soul, or other embodiment of choice is calling out for?

Options—What could you do today that will move you in the direction that voice is asking of you? What if there were no rules, and your coach lent you their officially issued magic wand to remove impediments to exercising your abilities and talent?

Reality - Back to the real world. What are the constraints that are stopping you? How many of them are real, and how many are just convenient? How might you harness them? Which are you going to take on?

Goal—OK. Now, let's talk about your goal—not the “performance monkey” one, the one that matters to you, not to HR, your line manager, or your shareholders. I can guarantee that pursuing that goal will be inefficient, hard, time-consuming, and one hundred per cent human.

And it will matter.