New Yorker writer Atul Gawande -- he's the guy who wrote the book about checklists -- has a new article out about the use of coaches in nontraditional areas like surgery. This isn't a new idea in education, of course, though coaching / master teacher programs are expensive and not always effective. Great teachers don't always make great coaches, and in many cases programs haven't been able to pick their own coaches because of work rules or other reasons. For what it's worth, I couldn't have written my Green Dot book without my developmental editor, David Lobenstine, and have benefitted greatly from working with an organizational coach named Susan Wallace. (A blogging coach would be great, too, but I haven't found anyone willing to take me on.) Press release below. Link may require subscription.
In the October 3, 2011, issue of The New Yorker, in “Personal Best” (p. 44), Atul Gawande explores the world of coaching and asks whether coaches could benefit professionals in
