The Sound of the Forest
Back in the third century A.D., the King Ts’ao sent his son, Prince T’ai, to the temple to study under the great master Pan Ku. Because Prince T’ai was to succeed his father as king, Pan Ku was to teach the boy the basics of being a good ruler. When the prince arrived at the temple, the master sent him alone to the Ming-Li Forest. After one year, the prince was to return to the temple to describe the sound of the forest.
When Prince T’ai returned, Pan Ku asked the boy to describe all that he could hear. “Master,” replied the prince, “I could hear the cuckoos sing, the leaves rustle, the hummingbirds hum, the crickets chirp, the grass blow, the bees buzz, and the wind whisper and holler.” When the prince had finished, the master told him to go back to the forest to listen to what more he could hear. The prince was puzzled by the master’s request. Had he not discerned every sound already?
For days and nights on end, the young prince sat alone in the forest listening. But he heard no sounds other than those he had already heard. Then one morning, as the prince sat silently beneath the trees, he started to discern faint sounds unlike those he had ever heard before. The more acutely he listened, the clearer the sounds became. The feeling of enlightenment enveloped the boy. “These must be the sounds the master wished me to discern,” he reflected.
When Prince T’ai returned to the temple, the master asked him what more he had heard. “Master,” responded the prince reverently, “when I listened most closely, I could hear the unheard—the sound of flowers opening, the sound of the sun warming the earth, and the sound of the grass drinking the morning dew.” The master nodded approvingly. “To hear the unheard,” remarked Pan Ku, “is a necessary discipline to be a good ruler. For only when a ruler has learned to listen closely to the people’s hearts, hearing their feelings uncommunicated, pains unexpressed, and complaints not spoken of, can he hope to inspire confidence in his people, understand when something is wrong, and meet the true needs of his citizens. The demise of states comes when leaders listen only to superficial words and do not penetrate deeply into the souls of the people to hear their true opinions, feelings, and desires.”
With Joy, Sara Arbel, MCC, Tel Aviv, Israel.

As far as the root problems, I think you’re right. However, reading through the summary and comments documents provided by ICF, reading all the various threads here, on LinkedIn, etc. listening to all the available recordings, I haven’t been able to find ideas offered, suggestions made or questions asked that weren’t offered, made or asked in one way or another by the Assessors over the last 2 plus years. Of course, I may have missed something but probably not that much. Noticing that I can’t help but think about the so often emphasized need for a “legally defensible” credential by the Board and Credentialing Chair during the early stages of this discussion. And the many times we asked what exactly that meant and where exactly it should be “legally defensible”. That emphasis has faded somewhat, but our questions have never been answered. It makes me wonder exactly what the Board wants in the way of enhancements to the credentialing program and why. And it makes me very hesitant to offer up any more ideas, or suggestions.

That said, I would be happy to sit down – literally or virtually – with you and a group of experienced Assessors, who would most certainly be the appropriate subject matter experts for this endeavor, and work through the process of clarifying the issues and possible solutions. If the ICF environment changes – if we get real answers to our questions – if transparency prevails – if the governance issues are addressed and acted on – if consistency and clarity in positions are articulated forthrightly and openly – etc. then I would be happy to offer the results to ICF.

Perhaps, facilitating a root cause hopefully using coaching process modelling could help?

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and towards a great 2010 to everyone.

Billy C H Teoh
Malaysia.

- Sign me – a very appreciative MCC coach based in Austin Texas USA

Am I correct in saying that these are ideas that have been “floated” by participants in ICF Coaches Take a Stand and which would require more discussion, and are not specific recommendations from the group as a whole?

Also, at the risk of repeating myself, I feel there is still work to be done on agreeing on and communicating what the top credentialing issues are – whether that is done by the ICF leadership or others. It’s hard for me to see how we come up with the best solution if we haven’t agreed on what the root problems are.