Coaching helps a graduate student complete his dissertation

Out of the Box Coaching and
Breakthroughs with the Enneagram, Mary R. Bast, Ph.D.

Coaching Helps a Graduate Student Complete His Dissertation

Phil O'Reilly, a free-flowing conceptualizer, wanted to find more productive ways to organize his dissertation and overcome what he saw as his negative personality traits. Through coaching, Phil realized he'd blocked his innate creativity by trying to write his dissertation following a traditional, linear approach and he began to use his intellectual gifts more freely:

He became more aware of his talents as a synthesizer of concepts between two separate and somewhat mutually exclusive academic disciplines; this guided data-gathering and note-taking (which had been bogging him down) and allowed his unique perspective to shine forth.

Using a Mind Map Phil wrote conceptual categories within circles on a page, then looked for links between concepts without forcing a linear outline; he let the ideas create their own structure.

He got past his writer's block by applying the premises of creative problem-solving -- withholding judgment during the first round (he had been trying to write a polished first draft).

Phil also came to appreciate the gifts of his personality. The Enneagram Four is often innovative, able to see things in a new light, and understandably frustrated by the tendency of others to prefer doing things the way they always have. To help him influence traditionalists from two departments to embrace his perspective, I likened the two disciplines to railroad stations. One would only accept blue cars; the other would only accept red cars.

"If you believe the blue car can add something, but you want it to be accepted at the red station, you need to paint it red. Once you get the blue car into the red station, it will be easier to show its added value."

Phil was inspired by this metaphor to create his own way to bridge the intellectual barriers between departments.

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