Design: Coaching Practice

Background

I recently felt a longing to do a design based on the Design Web of Looby Macnamara. An opportunity presented itself as I came into contact with Marieke, a woman who was looking for a way to reboot her business. I proposed to facilitate a design with her.

Design team

The design was done by:

• Arno Peters (permaculture designer)
• Marieke

Design Strategy

Marieke has no prior experience with permaculture designs. My primary goal has been to guide her through the design process.

As with a previous design I did with a friend of mine, I choose Looby Macnamara's Design Web as the guiding design process. You can read about it in her book People & Permaculture. I resonate with using its anchor points and allowing jumping between points as questions come up and get answered.

Looby Macnamara's Design Web

The Design

Over the course of several sessions in person and over the phone, Marieke and I have gone over the anchor points in the Design Web. Below is the result of our collaboration.

• Vision
  • transformation of self and other through ceremonies, rituals, personal coaching and group coaching
• Helps
  • partner
  • good friends
  • editor (to improve textual communication)
  • web designer
  • Hipsy
  • bullet journaling (already tried and rejected)
  • meditation / visualization techniques
    • visualize an energy condom to shield from negative energies
    • alternatively, not block energies but allowing to flow through you
  • asking for feedback
• Limits
  • mindset and beliefs
  • time sinks:
    • bookkeeping / administration
    • booking / reserving a location
    • finding a date that works for everybody
    • avoiding double bookings
  • energy management, the ability to sustain a steady pace
• Patterns
  • 'As within, so without'
  • reuse patterns from previous experience in teaching
  • every business needs a website
  • communication channels / patterns of communication
    • website
    • posts on instagram / socials
    • word of mouth
    • local newspaper
    • hipsy / event websites
    • event announcements on dedicated channels
    • interview with podcaster
• Ideas
  • use Hipsy to promote activities and to put detailed information on the website. The Hipsy activity can point to the website and the website can point to a specific activity or to a set of activities on Hipsy
  • treat everything as an experiment
    • don't know the best day to organize a workshop: try a number of different options
    • don't know what topic people resonate with: try a bunch of different workshop formats
• Principles
  • Multiple Elements x Multiple Functions
    • reusing exercises in other workshops
    • reusing lesson elements
  • Work With Nature
    • Marieke needs to accept being a Projector and work with that: rest when needed, wait for the invitation, etc.
  • Minimum Effort, Maximum Effect
    • A good principle to keep in the back of your mind. This prevents you from getting lost in details that bring little forward momentum.
• Integration
  • Outline of website to showcase Marieke
    • On Offer
      • For Individuals
      • For Groups
    • For Whom
    • Vision and Process
    • About Me
• Action
  • get started on website texts
  • use well-known platform to create website (e.g. WordPress)
  • contemplate workshops
• Momentum
  • set up regular appointments to discuss progress
• Appreciation
  • appreciate the opportunity to give a workshop when cooking tea or when placing yoga mats or sitting cushions
• Reflection
  • setting an intention when setting up the place for a workshop; when placing yoga mats or sitting cushions
  • regular meditation
• Pause
  • calming down
  • properly grounding before a workshop
  • sufficient sleep
  • regular meditation