Getting Into the Groove: Learning from Disruption
What happens when the rhythm of progress is interrupted—when the stylus hits a scratch?
Over the past 18 months, as I’ve deepened my practice as a coach, this metaphor has returned to me again and again. Coaching, for me, is like listening to a vinyl record. Every so often, the stylus hits a scratch, and the music stutters. There’s a moment of friction, dissonance, or pause.
Early in my journey, I thought my role was to jog the needle forward—to help clients get “unstuck” and move on. If I could usher them past the discomfort, I believed I was doing my job well.
But experience has taught me something different.
The more I’ve sat in conversation with clients—and reflected on my own practice—the more I’ve come to see the scratch not as a flaw, but as an invitation. When we slow down and stay with it, something deeper can emerge: insight, awareness, and transformation. In that space, I find myself listening more deeply. I become less focused on being the “expert” and more attuned to the system, the human experience, and the wisdom already present in the room. It’s no longer about me as a coach—it’s about them, and what the scratch is inviting them to learn.
At Holono-Me, we work with groups and teams across diverse systems. We often see how the scratch—when embraced as a pause—helps us better understand the complexity of organisations, where individuals and teams are bound to hit friction. The scratch might show up as misalignment, fatigue, conflict, or a sense of going in circles. It’s tempting to push through, fix things quickly, or get back to “how things were.”
But we believe real growth arises from something different: the willingness to pause with purpose. Leadership isn’t about perfection or control. It’s about presence. It’s about being fully available to the uncomfortable, imperfect moments that reveal what truly needs attention in a system.
When leaders pause at the point of friction, what once felt like a problem becomes a possibility. The scratch becomes:
- A signal to look beneath the surface: What patterns are repeating? What truths are being avoided?
- A bridge to deeper relationships: Naming discomfort together builds psychological safety and trust.
- A gym for emotional intelligence: The scratch trains our capacity to feel, reflect, and respond rather than react.
- A portal to shared learning: Reflection becomes a team practice, not just a personal one.
- A spark for innovation and new thinking: Tension, when harnessed, becomes creative energy.
Today, I see my role not as the person with the answers, but as a thinking partner—someone who holds space for the scratch, listens to what it’s pointing to, and trusts the clients to find their own way through. Because sometimes, the breakthrough isn’t in the fix. It’s in the pause.
At Holono-Me, we invite leaders and teams to pause with purpose—to stay with the scratch long enough to hear what it’s really saying. These moments of disruption are not failures:
- They are signals.
- They are invitations.
- They are opportunities to listen more deeply, see more clearly, and lead more consciously.
The groove doesn’t return by forcing the stylus forward. It returns when we understand the scratch, when we learn from it, and when we move forward with intention rather than urgency. So the next time the rhythm falters—whether in a team, a conversation, or within yourself—pause. Stay with the scratch and ask:
What is this moment trying to teach me?
Because when we stay with the scratch—together—we don’t just get back on track.
We realign. We transform. We evolve. And in doing so—we rediscover the rhythm of what really matters.