CoachVille R&D Team

R&D Team Memo
Saturday, July 21, 2001

To unsubscribe, email unsubscribecrd@coachville.com

Potpourri

Research Volunteer - CourseByEmail.com Project
CoachVille is now moving toward the CourseByEmail approach -- Certified Cyber is one example -- to package and deliver how-to-coaching via email. (I own the domain CourseByEmail.com and plan to turn that into a ville, although I also have ecourseville, so maybe we'll host it there.) These are a little bit like ezines, but with a narrower focus and a 'result' if/when one does all of the steps. Like I'll be reformatting A Perfect Life to be in 50 or 100 steps (some are DO/ACTION steps, some are STOP steps, some are THINK/REORIENT steps). It's more than just information -- these are PROGRAMS that get a result or take the person to a certain level of ability or understanding.

I'm fairly convinced that this form of e-coaching will be very, very popular. I am seeking a volunteer to spend 3-4 hours asap to research the web and email me back with the top 20 e-course type sites so I can go take a look. I would also like a 2 paragraph summary of each site and samples of what they are offering/pricing/breadth.

One of the things I believe we'll be able to do at CoachVille is to create and license a package of e-courses so coaches can have an e-product to offer for free (or pay) to their markets/subscribers. The narrower or more specific the focus of these courses-by-email, the better I think, because that way the coach is attracting EXACTLY who they want to attract. I see 100 courses-by-email within a year or two (but then, I see 100 of anything/everything in general).

My guess is that we'll also invite coaches to create their own 50 or 100 step courses-by-email to add to the collection.

Do you live near Chicago?
If you live in/near Chicago and you have a garage, we are seeking a place to have 2000 COACH coffee mugs shipped, for the ICF conference. We want to have them shipped to the hotel, but ICF hasn't released the instructions/timing for this so we're stuck because our vendor needs a shipping address asap. Ugh. All you have to do is receive/hold them until Mark Charest drives up in a van a day before the ICF conference starts and picks them up. There is NOTHING you'll be expected to do except receive/hold them until Mark shows up. 2000 mugs is a lot, but they don't take up THAT much space. Let me know if you can help out... thomas@thomasleonard.com. As a thank you, you may have 50 mugs to give away to your friends/colleagues. Won't YOU be popular!

For fun
I wanted to share with you the collection of responses we received about the Perfect vs Excellence distinction. These make great reading.

Enjoy!

Perfection vs Excellence II
by Thomas J. Leonard. All rights reserved. Licensed use only.

These are selected responses from readers of the Perfect vs Excellent nugget that ran earlier in this course. I believe that you'll find that they deepen the point!

I support you with the word choice - excellence is just too big of a step down

Well, I'll be darned... I haven't seen the definitions of those words since my grammar school spelling class. You've caused a MAJOR shift for a gal who thought you were dead wrong on the perfection thing. By golly... Thomas is RIGHT everyone!!!!!! A humbling moment is being had by many right now... Wow, Thomas.... Thank you. Maybe there's a lot of things you ""get"" that others don't... I'm really starting to wonder these days...

Thank you Thomas for this nugget. For me, it was a perfectly worded distinction that perfectly perfected my understanding of perfect. Before, I felt this essence of perfect... it was an inner knowing thing.. but articulating that into words was more challenging - especially in a way that others could really get it.

--

If we don't strive for perfection we will stop at excellence and think we have it all, and we don't. There is farther to go.

--

I really liked your comparison Perfect vs. Excellence. I took the A Perfect Life class with Dave and on one of the calls we had a moment of silence as we ""got it"". It was an amazing experience. Your description adds words to our moment of .............. and will not replace it either. I wish that moment for others too. thanks

I prefer perfect also, because in my mind I have a different standard or version of what I consider perfect for me or making myself perfect.

Perfect! To me, 'perfect' is the perfect word because it causes a mind shift, or did in me anyway. It caused me to understand and accept my role in bringing this item or situation into my life. Ownership. So, it is more of a spiritual distinction for me, and an important one at that. 'Perfect' is more powerful. Thanks for thinking outside the box (to use another term you may find old!). Somebody's go to do it!

Yes this is useful--I always liked 'perfect' but now I know why. Thanks.

Since I'm basing much of my practice these days around the PERFECT LIFE/PERFECT PERSON programs, it's nice to have this type of definition available. I'll be using the distinction and the definition frequently, I'm sure.

This was perfectly useful!

"Just musing ... perhaps people championing ""excellence"" in favor of ""perfect"" are conceding in advance that they assume they cannot achieve anything in a perfect state.

I love ""perfect"" in coaching terms and this is a great tool to make clients consider looking at it.

I think people are getting confused because the bible talks about us human being born in sin, and therefore we will never be perfect. On the other hand, can a non human (Non life) thing be perfect, well probably not. The reason is that humans invented it.

Hi Thomas - just had to reply. I love the perfect theme - in fact, isn't it one of the first things we learn as coaches: that the client is complete and whole, just as they are, when they come to us? (and of course, so are we) To me, that's perfect and it fits in with the entire evolutionary concept of coaching. Being perfect is being mindful, aware and totally ok with where I am right here, right now. It doesn't mean I can sit on my butt and do nothing. I will always be a work in progress. And at each step of that progress, even if I am not making progress, I am perfect.

I think PERFECT is perfectly challenging.

Yes, I dislike the use of perfect, yet it does make perfect sense to me and forces me to stretch quite a bit! (although I prefer ideal) Do you have a distinction between ideal and perfect? I'd like to see your subtle difference.

Your distinctions are always useful and make me think. Aren't the people who want to use excellence just the perfect pain.

Just got a support email.......i just used ""perfect"" with my coach this morning to describe my vision. it seems to me that the search for excellence is something along the path to perfect.

Can't help myself. Perhaps I'm out in some field and not even in the game. After three Perfect Classes, A Perfect Life, A Perfect Person and The Perfect 100 Program, the notion of Perfect is just Perfect. The clarity of using Perfect as a benchmark for who I am and what I do has dramatically changed my life. It is by no means Perfect yet, although far more Perfect than it was 2 years ago. I have a long way to evolve, that single word has created a huge vacuum that keeps pulling me. It's no longer a question of whether it fits as a need, want, boundary, standard or personal foundation. It's a one word vision, goal, purpose that simplifies all for me. If it's not Perfect for me, it's just not Perfect and therein lies my choices. Perfect is a internal choice. Excellence is the external outcome.

I'm also intrigued by how many people resist the hell out of ""perfect."" I think part of it is our addiction to fixing and changing -- which doesn't make sense if we and others are perfect.

Isn't this the perfect message?

I loved perfect from the start. i still refer to my list every day. show it to people. tell them about my perfect life. it's a great barometer...responses similar to your r&d groupings. you can see how people are going to be just by the way they respond to just the word.

picky, picky

Thomas - I thank you for the wording clarification - it will help me when I talk with people on excellence vs perfect. Thank you. I'm one of those people that think that perfect is the right word choose - but maybe I ""biased"" as I am in the Perfect100 class, have had some great learning on the topic / inner shifts etc.

--

END