The Power of a Miracle Question
By: Katie Best
Tags: Leadership Skills, Leadership Development, Coaching, Leadership, Leadership Coaching

The Power of a Miracle Question

It’s not unusual to find yourself leading someone who is fed up (especially not at the moment, right?)

At some point, every leader is likely to have come across team members who seem disenchanted with the direction that their career is taking, or who’ve returned to work after parental leave to discover that their work-life balance isn’t what it once was, what with childcare responsibilities and client expectations. Or seem to be in conflict with every other team member, or have upset a client, or have just had a really bad month and everything seems to be getting them down. Or, at the moment, who has used the past year and a bit to have a partial rethink, realise that they’re not happy, know that they want to make changes…but what?

You, and they, can see it’s time for them to make a change. Or at least to think about it, and rule it out. But how do they identify what they want to change? And how can you as their leader/manager help them, if they don’t even know themselves?

Well, welcome to the answer. People, may I introduce you to The Miracle Question. It is a fantastic tool that may help you, and them, to figure out what comes next. If you’re already a fan of using coaching approaches as part of your leadership work, then you will certainly want to add The Miracle Question to your leadership and coaching toolkit. (And if you don’t use coaching approaches, you should consider them for their significant benefits for your staff, your team function, and you as their leader).

So what is The Miracle Question? It’s a psychotherapeutic (counselling) tool that has its origins in Solutions-Focused Brief Therapy, and the work of Dr Linda Metcalf. But it’s used loads in executive coaching to help clients identify and set goals. As a coach, I regularly use it to help clients who are stuck in the mess of their current situation to look forward and work out what they want to do next.

And you can use it on yourself, or your team members, when you think there’s a need to set some fresh and inspirational goals which will drive forward your working life and possibly your home life, too.

The miracle question is this:

‘Suppose tonight, while you sleep, a miracle occurs. When you wake tomorrow, what would you notice that would tell you that your life had suddenly got better?’

(As you’re reading this, you might want to close your eyes and ask yourself the question).

Letting someone picture themselves on the other side of a problem gives a great deal of insight into what is important to them. As a leader working with a team member, you ask the question and then give them a moment to get the image clear in their mind. Then, when they’re ready to carry on, you should help them to visualise their perfect day even better. To do this, you can ask these further questions:

What are you noticing around you?

What can you see?

What can you hear?

How do you feel?

Where will you go next on this day?

And, ultimately:

How will you be different as a result?

These questions will help your team member to become clearer on what a perfect day looks like, and to verbalise it. And then, alone or with you, they can work out what’s standing in the way of achieving it.

It gets its power from allowing someone to escape from the stresses and strains of the world around them for a moment and explore what a better future looks like. Then they can see what steps they can take to achieve it.

If you want to keep it strictly professional (and you’re worried you might hear a story about how the perfect day consists of leaving their partner and this goddawful city because, actually, they hate all their friends too now they come to think of it), you could place limits around the question:

‘Suppose this afternoon, you are standing in the kitchen making a drink and a miracle occurs. When you return to your desk, what would you notice that would tell you that your working life had suddenly got better?’ (note that this wording would be appropriate for someone in an office, or working from home)

You can play around with the Miracle Question to make it fit your context. As you’re not using it in a therapeutic setting but rather a workplace coaching setting, it’s yours to experiment with. For example, if it’s their creativity that’s suffering, you could just ask them this:

‘Suppose I had a magic wand and could make you overcome your creative block. When you return to your office after this meeting, what would you notice that would tell you that your creativity had radically improved?’

Just one more thing to say before you get out there and try it, which is what you should do if the person identifies something that is unachievable: Limitless money, a ten-day week, or not having quit university when they were 20. They can’t make these happen (unfortunately), you can help them to explore what these mean. Is the limitless money about freedom, or supporting their extended family, or not feeling hemmed in a tiny home office? What else can they do to deal with these issues? How can their desires be made into a more realistic goal that still inspires them to want to change.

The Miracle Question can be such a useful tool — and with robust reasons why it works, there’s no reason not to give it a try on your team today.