Two Methods Are Better Than One

By Lawrence Philbrook

I have been doing a lot of coaching and mentoring during the last 10 years with corporate clients and our facilitators. One tool I use is the ICA's ToP Focused Conversation method developed by the ICA. After being introduced to a model called GROW, I saw the advantage of integrating the two. GROW, a simple method for goal setting and problem solving, was developed in the United Kingdom and used extensively in corporate coaching in the late 1980s and 1990s. The following chart from Wikipedia shows its various steps:


The focused conversation model expands the GROW model in several ways. In GROW, there is a presupposition that the client or coach already knows the goal. With ORID, we know that the goal is often not fully articulated until the Interpretive or even Decisional level is reached. When the two processes are integrated, this awareness makes a profound difference. The client sees that defining the goal is a response to an objective question: “What brought you here or what is the goal you assume when you walk in?” As the client proceeds to the options /Interpretive level, the question is raised again: “With your new perspective of reality, has the goal changed?” The decisional level is the place for a final check on the goal. From there, the client declares what the next steps should be.

  G  Goal

The Goal is the end point, where the client wants to be. It has to be defined in such a way that it is clear to the client when he has achieved it.

  R  Reality

The current Reality is where the client is now. What are the issues and challenges, and how far away is the client from the goal?

  O  Options

Once issues or challenges are identified, the client needs to find ways of dealing withthem. These are called the options.

  W  Way Forward

These then need to be restated as steps the client can take towards the goal. They are

the Way Forward.


One difference between the two processes is that Reality is dealt with in one level with GROW but in two levels with ORID. In GROW, it is the second step. In ORID, it involves the first and second step – the objective and reflective levels: first, the experiences of the moment; and second, the emotions or intuitions triggered by those experiences. Also, one may cycle through some or all of the levels – O/R, O/R/I or O/R/I/D – several times in a conversation. The task of the coach or mentor is to help the client reveal the process and the thoughts he or she is engaged with. This includes bringing them “back” to the objective or reflective levels as many times as needed to get all the necessary data out in front of them.


Once this is understood, you can move to the Interpretive level and explore issues, challenges and opportunities. The door is now open for the Options level (still at Interpretive): “What is a new insight towards action that you have not tried? What research or exploration could you do to open more avenues or choices?” The second question reminds the coach and client that an action plan is not always the result of a GROW or coaching session. What is important is the resolve to move to action. Then comes the transition to action: “With all the work you have done so far, is your initial Goal still the one that you are now moving towards?”


You then go to the final step – the Way Forward in GROW or the Decisional level in ORID: “What are you going to do to move towards your goal?”




Click to enlarge

Lawrence Philbrook, a certified ToP Facilitator and Certified Professional Facilitator, is director of the Institute of Cultural Affairs Taiwan



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