The Learning Philosophy

Our learning philosophy is derived from the idea that “Thoughtful reflection on natural experience, in light of conceptual ideas is the most powerful tool we have for management learning” (Henry Mintzberg, Managers not MBAs). This concept was cultivated from Henry’s experiences teaching and founding successful management development programs around the globe. This simple yet powerful approach has proven to provide significant advantages over traditional content-focused learning for management and leadership development.

CoachingOurselves was born out of co-founder Phil LeNir’s need for a practical, immediately useful, and cost-effective solution to management development. Realizing that Henry’s philosophy did not require a classroom or even a facilitator or trainer, he began running self directed learning meetings with his management team using Henry's learning philosophy and specially adapted learning content.

This basic format remains central to the CoachingOurselves approach to management development. Conceptual ideas are provided by the world’s leading management and business thinkers and adapted to the CoachingOurselves meeting context. Participants focus on current managerial issues enabling them to make relevant, timely changes on a weekly basis.

We aim to expose participants to a variety of conceptual ideas, while at the same time, increase their self-awareness, harness the collective experience of the group, and strengthen teams. CoachingOurselves groups that meet regularly quickly develop trust and a sense of community between members. This promotes honest conversation on shared issues and a sense of unity, which often becomes a major catalyst for change within the organization.

• Participating managers contribute their recent experiences, while CoachingOurselves supplies the conceptual materials
• Managers learn by reflecting on their experiences in light of these conceptual materials
• Learning is carried back to work for impact
• Insights from new experiences feed into subsequent sessions

If you would like to learn more about CoachingOurselves, we recommend the following online resources:

• A recorded webcast with Professor Henry Mintzberg introducing CoachingOurselves in context of his management development programs (IMPM, IMHL, ALP)
• Managers not MBAs, the book by Professor Mintzbergs introducing his development programs in contrast to typical MBA programs.
• A video introduction by Professor Jonathan Gosling introducing CoachingOurselves to participants within the context of the Management mindsets, the framework proposed by Mintzberg and Gosling in place of the functional silos of a typical MBA programs.
• "From Education ATMs to Wiki-Schools", an article by Jonathan Gosling introducing the learning approach behind CoachingOurselves.
• "Social Learning for Management Development", a white paper by Phil Lenir introducing CoachingOurselves as a form of Social Learning for Management development, contrasting with similar well known learning approaches such as Action Learning.