What Changed?

What changed?

The single most useful question I’ve found in thirty years of coaching.

A director was convinced his boss passed him over for a project out of politics. The story was airtight. The peer was less qualified. The decision was unfair.

I asked: what changed between when your boss gave you the last big project and now?

When he actually thought about it, the answer had nothing to do with his story. Board pressure. A specific client relationship. A development philosophy his boss had literally told him about months earlier.

The real situation was sitting right there. He couldn’t see it because his emotional reaction was running the show.

People can defend against accusations. They cannot defend against genuine curiosity.

What changed between when things were working and now?