A good dialogue on what it means to be an Agile Coach on Quora - http://www.quora.com/What-is-an-Agile-Coach
Buckminster Fuller wrote in his 1970 book I Seem To Be a Verb:
Much of the coaching I enjoy doing is about being a "Transition Guide" toward Agility. My thinking on this is that I don't want to have to wear the Kevlar vest of the Change Agent. I prefer to model the behaviors of the best guides I've had the pleasure of knowing - the community of Outward Bound guides I've learned so much from. And the role of a true coach is one totally focused upon the client's needs (not the sponsor's desires for the client). That ethical constraint is not respected in the Agile community.
These are people that can not afford to spend money on a car (they drive clunkers across deserts) but have the responsibility to protect the life and limb of the participants on the trip. Work 24x7 (get up in the night to search for the person that got lost returning from the grover (potty)) and smile in the morning. They teach a group of paddlers to stroke hard to move away from danger (the big rock with undercuts) all the while waiting for the last responsible moment (karios) to put in the pry (one type of stroke) that shoots the raft into the current of safety.
The expert guide is always watching and making karios (the right, critical or opportune moment) decisions concerning the safety and learning moment of the individuals and groups.
On a related but tangent note: see Bobservation #3761 Architect or Circus Clown.
Buckminster Fuller wrote in his 1970 book I Seem To Be a Verb:
"I live on Earth at present, and I don’t know what I am. I know that I am not a category. I am not a thing — a noun. I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process – an integral function of the universe."
These are people that can not afford to spend money on a car (they drive clunkers across deserts) but have the responsibility to protect the life and limb of the participants on the trip. Work 24x7 (get up in the night to search for the person that got lost returning from the grover (potty)) and smile in the morning. They teach a group of paddlers to stroke hard to move away from danger (the big rock with undercuts) all the while waiting for the last responsible moment (karios) to put in the pry (one type of stroke) that shoots the raft into the current of safety.
The expert guide is always watching and making karios (the right, critical or opportune moment) decisions concerning the safety and learning moment of the individuals and groups.
On a related but tangent note: see Bobservation #3761 Architect or Circus Clown.
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