Leading edge skills for consultants, coaches and facilitators. The Fluent Practitioner is a brand new set of skills based on the practical use of systemic, constructionist and narrative principles.

1. THE
FLUENT
PRACTITIONER
CONSULTANT
COACH
FACILITATOR

2. The FLUENT Practitioner
Definition
In this context, the fluent practitioner is a consultant, coach or facilitator who works easily with their
client’s language, ways of talking and conversational practices and who readily adapts their own
language, way of talking and conversational practice to jointly create improvements that last
fluent
adjective
1 the ability to speak a foreign language easily and accurately
2 the ability to move smoothly, effortlessly and elegantly
3 the ability to think of many diverse and creative ideas quickly
Copyright 2014 Tim Coburn All Rights Reserved

3. In practice
When working successfully as a fluent practitioner…
Your language becomes
mine…
My language becomes
yours…
And a new language,
previously unknown to
both of us, becomes
ours…
That’s the FLUENT
practitioner
Copyright 2014 Tim Coburn All Rights Reserved

4. Who is this useful for?
Consultants, coaches or facilitators who work…
With
Individuals
With
Groups
and Teams
With
Organisations
…to improve engagement, capability and performance.
Copyright 2014 Tim Coburn All Rights Reserved

5. Useful in many roles
The skills of a fluent practitioner are useful in many roles
Directors and Managers
Management & OD Consultants
Professional Specialists
Coaches and Mentors
HR Business Partners
Learning Facilitators
Copyright 2014 Tim Coburn All Rights Reserved

6. How does it work?
A fluent practitioner works with these general assumptions
THE CLIENT
THE PRACTITIONER
Knows the context
Asks questions and listens
Sets the direction
Takes their lead from the client
Is resourceful
Structures the process
Wants to be effective
Provides ideas and suggestions
Leads improvement
THE RELATIONSHIP
Is accountable for their results
Is fluent in the language of the
system they know
Equal partners
Both bring expertise
Supports improvement
Is accountable for their effectiveness
Is fluent in the language of the
system they know
Share knowledge and understanding
Learn from each other
Work together
Client decides
Make progress by learning a little of each other’s
language
Everything takes place in
language and conversation
– it always has. Fluent
practitioners work with this
more than those who don’t
Copyright 2014 Tim Coburn All Rights Reserved

7. FLUENT Practitioners attach a high importance to language
They work with these specific assumptions, too…
4
1
Language and conversation are the
primary resources for getting things
done
For improvements to work, clients
need to create them in conversation,
in language that’s meaningful and
relevant to them
2
5
Language is local – each organisation,
function, team and individual has a
language, vocabulary and way of
talking all of their own
3
The ability to work in the client’s local
language is critically important to the
practitioner’s effectiveness and the
client’s success
When fluent practitioners provide an
idea, they expect their client to
translate it into their own language so
it makes sense to them, locally
6
To implement plans successfully,
clients need to be skilful in holding
effective conversations because
talking is the way they things get done
Copyright 2014 Tim Coburn All Rights Reserved

8. Working with the client’s language is usually unfamiliar
Organisations are human systems. Take any organisation you know and think about the language,
vocabulary and stories that matter to them – and nobody else
History
Success stories
Acronyms
Job titles
Turns of phrase
Our language, our words,
our stories.. It’s the way we
make sense and how we
do things together
Vision, Purpose
Strategy, Values
Initiatives and major
projects
Technical and
professional terms
Metaphor
Products and
services
Vernacular
Gossip
Standards and
procedures
Idiom
Copyright 2014 Tim Coburn All Rights Reserved

9. Letting go of our own language isn’t easy
People can be attached to what they know… and the language in which it is stated - especially consultants!
Examples…
We get attached to the language of our knowledge because it is often:
4 Box Grids
Tried and tested
Triangles and Pyramids
Based on research
3 Circles
Validated by experience
Star Models
Familiar and reliable
Change Management
Roadmaps
Approved as ‘professional expertise’ by training, qualifications etc
Copyright 2014 Tim Coburn All Rights Reserved

10. From certainty to doubt
In order to work in our client’s language, we have to suspend and sometimes entirely give up the certainty
we have in our own. In this way, working with a sense of doubt becomes much more productive
FLUENT
YES
doubt
ORIENTATION TO
MY CLIENT’S KNOWLEDGE
Am I able to judge
the relevance,
meaning and
usefulness of the
language of my
client’s knowledge
against their
criteria, not mine?
certainty
NO
FIXED NO
YES
FLUENT
ORIENTATION TO
MY OWN KNOWLEDGE
Am I able to put the language of my own knowledge ‘at risk’ so
that I might understand, learn and work in and with my client’s?
Copyright 2014 Tim Coburn All Rights Reserved

11. Why doubt matters
He is quick, thinking in clear images;
I am slow, thinking in broken images.
He becomes dull, trusting to his clear images;
I become sharp, mistrusting my broken images.
Trusting his images, he assumes their relevance;
Mistrusting my images, I question their relevance.
In Broken Images
by
Robert Graves
Assuming their relevance, he assumes the fact,
Questioning their relevance, I question the fact.
When the fact fails him, he questions his senses;
When the fact fails me, I approve my senses.
He continues quick and dull in his clear images;
I continue slow and sharp in my broken images.
He in a new confusion of his understanding;
I in a new understanding of my confusion.
Photo credit: The Poetry Foundation
Copyright 2014 Tim Coburn All Rights Reserved

12. Implication
If we want to work in the language of our client’s knowledge, we have to become fluent in it as well as in
our own
FIXED
I remain attached
to what I know
and the language
that makes sense
to me
FLUENT
I become fluent
in what my client knows
and the language
that makes sense
to them
Copyright 2014 Tim Coburn All Rights Reserved

13. FLUENT Practitioners work with a new view of what knowledge is
FIXED
FLUENT
From knowledge as…
To knowledge as…
Found in me – it’s what I know
Made between us – it’s what we know
Objective – it’s the truth
Contextual – it’s what we agree to be true
Universal and enduring – it works everywhere
Local and changeable – it works here, for now
This has implications for practitioners…
Copyright 2014 Tim Coburn All Rights Reserved

14. And it changes our view of what a practitioner does
FIXED
FLUENT
From the Practitioner as…
To the Practitioner as…
‘Acting on’ the client and their situation
‘Joining with’ the client and their situation
Applying general knowledge
Working with local knowledge
As a detached and certain expert
As an involved and curious participant
With energy, effort and action-taking
In language, conversation & meaning-making
And there’s a body of knowledge for this…
Copyright 2014 Tim Coburn All Rights Reserved

15. It’s supported by a body of knowledge in 3 related areas
SYSTEMIC
IDEAS
Systemic ideas guide the FLUENT practitioner to see the organisation as a human system in
which people interact on the basis of beliefs they hold about their roles and relationships.
Improvements call for changes in these parts of the system for new and better forms of
behaviour to emerge.
CONSTRUCTIONIST
IDEAS
Constructionist ideas guide the FLUENT practitioner to see all aspects of the organisation as
created and sustained in language, conversation and other forms of social interaction.
Improvements involve the social construction of new language, new meaning and new
conversational practices to embed and sustain ‘who we are’ in ‘what we say’ and ‘how we talk’.
NARRATIVE
IDEAS
Narrative ideas guide the FLUENT practitioner to see the organisational story (past, present and
future) and ensure that new projects reflect, support and extend critical narrative elements of
purpose, vision, values, strategy etc. Improvements involve enabling the creation or authorship
of new story-lines in which employees feel capable, confident and engaged to play their part.
Copyright 2014 Tim Coburn All Rights Reserved

16. A new, integrated set of practices
SYSTEMIC
SKILLS
CONSTRUCTIONIST
SKILLS
NARRATIVE
SKILLS
FLUENT practices are built on ideas from all three areas. They enable
sustainable improvement by attending to:
- The human system of people, beliefs and behaviours
- Their task, purpose, process and performance outcomes
- Roles, relationships, patterns of interaction and effects
- Leadership for systemic engagement and improvement
- Close attention to language, conversation and communication
- Improvement using stories, story-making and corporate authorship
- Using powerful systemic and generative questioning
- With collaborative, inclusive and outcome focused activities
- And reflection to increase systemic, constructionist and narrative
awareness in the client’s world so that they can use it for themselves
FLUENT practices draw out, amplify and take their lead from the interests,
motivation and momentum of the client. It uses questions and suggestions to
raise the client’s awareness of and sensitivity to risks and priorities as it
proactively enables a planned process of organisational change and
improvement.
Copyright 2014 Tim Coburn All Rights Reserved

17. Does it matter?
We hear a lot these days about ‘narrative’, ‘stories’, ‘conversation’ and ‘authorship’… In society at large,
there’s a growing awareness that the things we construct in language are the things that count.
The ideas that inform the fluent practitioner bring the practice of consulting, coaching and facilitating
learning up to date, equipping us to help clients in ways that meet their contemporary expectations.
CONVERSATION
THE NARRATIVE
LANGUAGE
At the heart of it, language is both
the medium and the product.
It’s why clients need practitioners
who know how to work with it.
STORIES
And why organisations need
leaders who know how to use it
well.
AUTHORSHIP
Copyright 2014 Tim Coburn All Rights Reserved

18. In summary
As a fluent practitioner, by giving up some of the certainty I have in the language of my own knowledge, I
become free to learn about yours and fluent enough to create something new together, that works
Your language becomes
mine…
My language becomes
yours…
And a new language,
previously unknown to
both of us, becomes
ours…
That’s the FLUENT
practitioner
Copyright 2014 Tim Coburn All Rights Reserved

19. Developed by Tim Coburn
The principles and practices of the fluent practitioner have
been developed over 20 years by Tim Coburn in his various
roles as an OD consultant, learning facilitator, executive
coach and leadership development specialist at world class
organisations including the BBC, Motorola, Rolls-Royce,
Kenya Airways, Syngenta and Serco.
Master-Classes for Consultants, Coaches and Facilitators
Tim offers bespoke half-day and full-day Master-Class Workshops for experienced
practitioners who want to extend their expertise with the additional skills of the
fluent practitioner introduced in this presentation.
For More Information
For more information, please contact Tim at: tim@timcoburn.com
Copyright 2014 Tim Coburn All Rights Reserved