英文原文
How to Use Scaling Questions in Coaching 1: Discovering What's Already Working
I’ve mentioned scaling questions and how to use them in different stages of the 5-D cycle a few times already in this newsletter, but I thought it would also be helpful to add a summary of the different ways you can use them, especially as you could structure a whole appreciative or solution focused coaching session around scaling. It also allows the space to expand a bit on why and how they work.
Discovering What’s Already Working
A basic scaling question towards the beginning of the coaching session (where we're exploring the client's 'Reality' if you're using the GROW model, or we're in the Discovery stage if you're using Appreciative Inquiry's 5-D model) could go like this:
(For a given issue or presenting problem): How would you rate where you are in relation to this issue on a scale of 0-10 – where 0 is the worst it’s ever been, and 10 is how it’s going to be when it’s exactly how you want it?
This seemingly simple question does a number of useful things and opens the door to even more. Let’s have a look in more detail at how it works.
Ease of use: scaling is easy for the client to understand. Pretty much everyone has been asked to rate things or experiences on a numerical scale at some point in their lives.
Building a bridge to a solution: if we were to view the current situation as ‘the problem’, and contrast that with our ideal solution, it can seem like there’s no bridge between the two – particularly if we are prone to black and white, either/or thinking. By setting out a scale from worst to best, and implying that the worst can be in the past and the best is in the future, we’re suggesting that change is possible, and that the client may be on a journey towards improvement.
Either a single-number answer or a range will work. The client’s answer may be a single number, or it might be a range (‘it varies between 3 and 5’ for example). Either one is fine, and if it’s a range, that provides additional scope for our follow-up questions .
Assigning a number on a scale is easier than describing a problem in detail. Talking about a problem, especially in detail, tends to make the client feel worse, and more stuck in the problem as it seems to expand to fill their attention. Instead, rating the problem on a scale allows the client to gauge where things are without having to immerse themselves in thinking about the problem.
Rating on a scale infuses hope by stealth: assigning a numerical rating seems like a neutral measure, rather than overtly positive. This means you can deploy it early in the first coaching session, without having to do a lot of preframing if you’re faced with a client who feels they have to focus on their problems to be ‘realistic’. But in fact, unless the rating is zero, the client is tacitly admitting that not everything is bad in the current situation. If we focus on a problem in order to find a solution, it tends to expand to fill our awareness until all we see is the problem. Rating the problem on a scale helps us to realise that some things are already working, and some components of the solution are already happening.
The wording of the question infuses even more hope by stealth: the question has a helpful presupposition built into it. When we say “And 10 is how it’s going to be when all the problems are solved...”, notice what’s presupposed in that part of the question. We’re not saying “if all the problems are solved”, which would imply that they might be solved, but equally there’s a possibility that they won’t be. We’re saying “when” – demonstrating a reassuring belief that the client can and will solve their problems, without having to say that out loud.
Laying a foundation for progress: you can ask the same basic scaling question in the next session. When the client responds with a (hopefully) higher number, they can see the progress they have made, which is validating in itself.
Ratings are subjective. Of course, the rating is not an objective measure – one client’s ‘four’ might be equivalent to another client’s ‘seven’. That doesn’t matter at all for one-to-one coaching. In team coaching, you can even use this subjectivity to help team members learn from each other’s different viewpoints, so as to uncover resources and opportunities (or potential problems) that otherwise might go unnoticed: “I see most of you have rated things at a four, but two of you have said ‘seven’. What have you noticed that your colleagues might be overlooking or discounting?”
Getting a more rounded picture: in some contexts (for example, performance coaching at work) it may be useful to ask what number on the scale a third party (for example, the client’s manager) would assign. If there’s a difference from the client’s rating, that can open a discussion about how the other person is seeing the situation differently.
A note about the scale. I habitually use a scale of zero to 10, but some other practitioners use a scale of one to 10. It probably doesn’t matter which you use. What does matter, I think, is that going higher up the scale should represent an improvement, as we’re used to bigger numbers or ‘higher scores’ being better than lower numbers. Also, we want to be focusing on solutions rather than problems. So questions that rate our progress on a scale towards solutions are more helpful than asking ‘How bad is the problem, on a scale on 1 to 10?’
Follow-up Scaling Questions in the Discovery Stage
Once we’ve established a baseline for the current situation, we can use follow-up questions to acknowledge progress and identify the client’s strengths, resources, and strategies that have worked.
If the rating is a single figure, you can ask:
“You’ve said that you’re at a ‘four’ on the scale now. How have you got up there from ‘three’?” or “What have you been doing that got you up from ‘three’?”
Alternatively, and especially if the client seems to have a pessimistic frame of mind:
“How do you stop yourself sliding back to ‘three’?”
This version appeals to ‘away-from’ motivation, but it can still discover useful resources and behaviours that are working.
These follow-up questions acknowledge and validate what the client has already been doing to bring the solution closer (or stop things getting even worse). They also provide behavioural reinforcement to their unconscious mind, encouraging it to do more in that direction. If they’ve been giving themselves a hard time for ‘not doing enough’, it’s quite possible that they’ve forgotten some of the helpful things they’ve already done (given the brain’s tendency to give more weight to negatives); this question helps to remind them.
If the client gave a range as their answer to the original question about where things are on the scale – ‘Uh, it varies between 3 and 5’ – that opens the way to ask what’s different, and what are they doing differently, when it’s 5. Again, the answers will uncover things that the client has been doing that are working, and/or the conditions that enable better performance.
Next week: scaling questions to help your client move towards their goal, evaluate their chosen options, and gauge their expectations of future progress.
中文翻译
如何在教练中使用刻度提问法1：发现已有成效
我已经在本通讯中多次提到刻度提问法及其在5-D循环不同阶段的应用，但我想补充总结其不同使用方式会很有帮助，尤其是你可以围绕刻度构建整个欣赏式或焦点解决式教练会话。这也为解释其为何有效及如何运作提供了空间。
发现已有成效
在教练会话开始时，一个基本的刻度提问（如果你使用GROW模型，我们正在探索客户的“现实”；如果你使用欣赏式探询的5-D模型，我们处于发现阶段）可以这样进行：
（针对特定问题或呈现的问题）：在0-10的刻度上，你会如何评价自己在这个问题上的位置？其中0表示最糟糕的情况，10表示问题完全按照你希望的方式解决时的状态。
这个看似简单的问题能带来许多好处，并开启更多可能性。让我们更详细地看看它是如何运作的。
易于使用：刻度对客户来说容易理解。几乎每个人在生活中都曾被要求用数字刻度评价事物或经历。
搭建通往解决方案的桥梁：如果我们将当前情况视为“问题”，并将其与理想解决方案对比，可能会觉得两者之间没有桥梁——尤其是如果我们倾向于非黑即白、二元思维。通过设定从最差到最好的刻度，并暗示最差可能已成过去、最好在未来，我们表明改变是可能的，客户可能正在走向改善的旅程。
单一数字答案或范围都有效。客户的答案可能是单一数字，也可能是范围（例如“在3到5之间变化”）。两者都可以，如果是范围，则为后续提问提供了额外空间。
在刻度上分配数字比详细描述问题更容易。谈论问题，尤其是详细谈论，往往会让客户感觉更糟，更陷入问题中，因为问题似乎会扩大以占据他们的注意力。相反，在刻度上评价问题让客户能够评估情况，而无需沉浸于思考问题。
刻度评价暗中注入希望：分配数字评分看似中性衡量，而非明显积极。这意味着你可以在第一次教练会话早期使用它，无需大量预设框架，即使面对认为必须关注问题才“现实”的客户。但事实上，除非评分为零，客户默认承认当前情况并非一切都糟。如果我们为了找到解决方案而关注问题，问题往往会扩大以占据我们的意识，直到我们只看到问题。在刻度上评价问题帮助我们意识到有些事情已经在运作，解决方案的某些部分已经在发生。
问题的措辞暗中注入更多希望：问题内置了有益的预设。当我们说“10表示所有问题解决时的状态...”，注意这部分问题中的预设。我们不是说“如果所有问题都解决”，这暗示问题可能解决，但也可能不解决。我们说“当”——展示一种安心的信念，即客户能够并将会解决问题，无需大声说出来。
为进步奠定基础：你可以在下一次会话中问同样的基本刻度问题。当客户回答（希望是）更高的数字时，他们能看到自己取得的进步，这本身就具有验证作用。
评分是主观的。当然，评分不是客观衡量——一个客户的“四”可能相当于另一个客户的“七”。在一对一教练中，这完全无关紧要。在团队教练中，你甚至可以利用这种主观性帮助团队成员学习彼此的不同观点，从而发现可能被忽视的资源、机会（或潜在问题）：“我看到大多数人评分为四，但两人说‘七’。你们注意到了什么，而同事可能忽略或低估了？”
获得更全面的图景：在某些情境下（例如工作中的绩效教练），询问第三方（例如客户的经理）会在刻度上分配什么数字可能有用。如果与客户的评分不同，这可以开启讨论，探讨他人如何以不同方式看待情况。
关于刻度的说明。我习惯使用0到10的刻度，但其他从业者使用1到10的刻度。使用哪个可能不重要。重要的是，我认为，刻度上升应代表改进，因为我们习惯更大数字或“更高分数”比更低数字更好。此外，我们希望关注解决方案而非问题。因此，在刻度上评价我们向解决方案进展的问题比问“问题有多糟，在1到10的刻度上？”更有帮助。
发现阶段的后续刻度提问
一旦我们为当前情况建立了基线，就可以使用后续问题来承认进步，并识别客户的优势、资源和有效策略。
如果评分是单一数字，你可以问：
“你说现在在刻度上是‘四’。你是如何从‘三’上升到那里的？”或“你做了什么让你从‘三’上升？”
或者，尤其是如果客户似乎有悲观心态：
“你如何阻止自己滑回‘三’？”
这个版本诉诸“远离”动机，但仍能发现有效的资源和行为。
这些后续问题承认并验证客户已经为接近解决方案（或阻止情况恶化）所做的努力。它们还为潜意识提供行为强化，鼓励其朝那个方向做更多。如果他们一直因“做得不够”而自责，很可能他们已经忘记了一些已经做过的有益事情（鉴于大脑倾向于更重视负面）；这个问题有助于提醒他们。
如果客户对原始问题（关于事物在刻度上的位置）给出了范围答案——“嗯，在3到5之间变化”——这为询问当它是5时有什么不同，以及他们做了什么不同的事情打开了道路。同样，答案将揭示客户一直在做的有效事情，和/或实现更好表现的条件。
下周：刻度提问帮助客户朝目标前进、评估所选选项、衡量对未来进展的期望。
文章概要
本文介绍了在教练中使用刻度提问法（Scaling Questions）来优先设定目标的方法，重点在于发现已有成效。文章解释了刻度提问的基本形式（如0-10评分），并详细阐述了其优点：易于使用、搭建解决方案桥梁、暗中注入希望、为进步奠定基础等。它还讨论了后续提问策略，以识别客户的优势和资源，帮助客户从问题焦点转向解决方案焦点，从而促进目标实现和积极改变。
高德明老师的评价
用12岁初中生可以听懂的语音来重复翻译的内容：刻度提问就像玩一个打分游戏，从0到10给自己现在的情况打分，0是最糟，10是最好。这样能轻松看到自己在哪里，还能发现已经做好的地方，让改变变得可能，就像搭桥从问题走向目标。
焦点解决心理学理论评价：刻度提问完美体现了焦点解决短期治疗（SFBT）的核心原则，如关注解决方案而非问题、利用客户现有资源和优势、以及构建希望感。通过数值化评估，它帮助客户从“问题饱和”思维中解脱，转向目标导向的积极视角，强化了“小改变带来大不同”的理念，促进了客户的自我效能感和未来可能性。
在实践上可以应用的领域和可以解决人们的十个问题：刻度提问可应用于个人成长、职场教练、团队建设、教育辅导、家庭关系、心理健康、绩效管理、冲突解决、生涯规划、健康促进等领域。它能帮助人们解决以下十个问题：目标模糊不清、缺乏动力、自我怀疑、压力管理困难、沟通障碍、团队协作不佳、情绪调节挑战、决策犹豫、进步感知不足、未来方向迷茫，通过聚焦已有成效和潜在资源，激发积极行动和持续改进。