Stop, Start, Continue,
and the Magic Wand
Out of all of the various tools in my executive coaching tool kit, the Stop, Start, Continue, and the Magic Wand visual model (and metaphor) is one of the simplest and most valuable—both in terms of creating awareness and improving performance. Best of all, it can be used in a wide range of scenarios and for a wide variety of purposes.
For example: Prior to meeting with a new coaching client for the very first time, so as to make that first session the most productive, I email them a self-reflection questionnaire containing these five not-so-simple-to-answer questions:
1. Five Words: What are five words you would use to describe yourself (at work)…and why?
2. Continue (yellow light): What are three things that you do regularly that feel productive and that you would advise yourself to keep doing? Why?
3. Stop (red light): What are three things that you do that you feel would be in your best interest to stop doing? Why?
4. Start (green light): What are three things that you’re not currently doing that you’d like to start doing? Why?
5. Magic Wand: If you could wave a magic wand and immediately change just one thing for, or about, yourself at work, what would it be? Why?
While these are not easy questions to answer, they serve as a powerful self-reflection and introspection instrument to help the individual look in the mirror. Framing these questions using the colorful “traffic light” and “magic wand” metaphors serves to help both the coaching client and me to mentally code these questions in a visual and memorable way. And kicking off the coaching engagement with these questions helps to open the door to the coaching engagement and gets the initial conversation off to a running start.
By the way, in case you were wondering, though it is more mellifluous-sounding to say, “Stop, Start, Continue,” I typically begin with Continue first, so as to capture the positive behaviors, or the things that seem to be working, prior to moving on to the things that may need to change.
This five-question model can also be used, within a coaching engagement, as a 360-degree assessment by asking the client’s supervisor, direct reports, and peers these questions about him or her. For example, “When thinking about Art Vandelay, what are five words you would use to describe him, and why? What are three things that you would recommend he Continue, Stop, and Start doing, and why? And if you could wave a magic wand to help him to be more effective and successful, what would you magically change for or about him, and why?
I have often used these five questions as part of a team assessment to explore and discover how a team is doing and what needs to change.
Additionally, I use it within my coaching engagements to solicit feedback from my clients on how they feel the coaching is going and what, if anything, I may need to change.
I also use it in my NYU class to solicit midterm feedback from students on what is working and what, if anything, they would like to see changed.
And deploying this exercise doesn’t need to be a whole formal process. You can just use it informally and conversationally, as in a feedback or debrief conversation, by asking someone, “What do you feel went well?” (yellow light). “What do you feel didn’t go as well?” (red light). And, “What would you do differently next time?” (green light).
And, most importantly: For yourself as a self-reflection tool, you can ask yourself these five questions and consider what’s working and what’s not. And you can even ask these same questions of those around you as a quick, simple, and powerful way to gain insights into your behaviors and your performance.
One thing, though: Although I pose the fifth question using the visual metaphor of the “magic wand,” the reality is that, unfortunately, there is no magic wand. The “magic” comes from taking the insights you’ve gained from the other four questions and then doing the hard work that it takes to make a positive change.
In Review
The Big Lesson: Using the five simple questions in the Stop, Start, Continue, and the Magic Wand model is a quick, powerful, and visual way to gain self-awareness and feedback that you can then use to make positive changes.
The Big Question: Are you brave, and honest, and self-aware enough to ask and answer these questions about yourself? And are you brave and willing enough to solicit this feedback about yourself from others?
Your Big Insight:
Your Big Action: