Late afternoon, slumping energy, trying to stay concentrated on emails when my colleague stepped into my room. As he mentioned someone following days - “Michael… B… Stanier” - my brain froze while my body knew I KNOW that name.
Michael Bungay Stanier! The MBS1 himself visited our office in Tallinn today. His playful, quirky book “The Coaching Habit”2 stood out among the dark, serious coaching texts during my training with Merle Viirmaa3.
That 5-question toolset has transformed how I approach every conversation - what started as a funny exercise revealed how powerful it is to give people space to talk and limit my own performance.
Today, I saw his effectiveness firsthand:
“The work is mind-numbing, excellent. And what else?”
Michael reminded me of the coach’s real duty - helping people understand their actual challenge, not offering solutions. This lucky coincidence encouraged what I’m focusing on now: acting less, showing more curiosity, and trusting that people have their own answers.
Other updates
- We have concluded UX maturity evaluation 2025. Informed by this and encouraged by other insights, I am already executing updated vision and strategies. I am conducting a series of strategy workshops with teams and stakeholders to orchestrate our activities on 5 streams.
- The winter season is long gone, and I have replaced hiking and skiing with cycling.
“Now Pages” is an original concept by Derek Sivers. You can find more information about it on the website NowNowNow.com.
Michael Bungay Stanier (MBS). https://www.mbs.works/about/. ↩︎
Michael Bungay Stanier (MBS). “The Coaching Habit” https://www.mbs.works/coaching-habit-book/. ↩︎
“About Me - Merle Viirmaa,” https://www.merleviirmaa.ee/en/about-me/. ↩︎
