Email the Author
You can use this page to email Andrea Chiou and Sharon Small about Who is using Clean Language, anyway?.
About the Book
We, Andrea Chiou and Sharon Small, have created this book to help connect the community of people using clean language questions and methodologies to others who are interested in clean models and methodologies. We wanted to create a fun to read book filled with personal stories. We also wanted to create a book with the potential to grow, which is how we came to use Leanpub.
Clean language practitioners and enthusiasts use a certain set of questions, called clean questions and a different way of listening to encourage independent thinking and discovery. There is a philosophy behind clean as well - one that holds a person’s experience and understanding of the world in highest respect with the intention of non-interference. We are taught a way of listening and asking questions that gives the person we are with complete freedom to have and own their own way of being without our suggestions, input or creative re-interpretations. There is more to it than this and our hope is as you read through the pages of this book that you will begin to see the difference being ‘clean’ can make for you and those you care about most.
Clean is practiced now in a very wide variety of professions and domains. This book will begin to give you a flavor of the breadth of its impact, from equine therapists to small IT shops, from music teachers to ISO 9000 auditors. Clean is universal because it taps into our most innate desire for acceptance and connection and does so in such a respectful way.
About the Authors
I am an agile coach working and living in Reston, Virginia who has been studying and using Clean Language, Symbollic Modeling, and Systemic Modeling since 2012. My interest in Clean Language comes from a deep desire to learn to accept each person exactly as they are and to support them in who they want to become. Through clean language I have learned to stay curious, rather than to advise, judge, or fix people, when coaching. I edit/create the Who Is books because they contribute to this wonderful community and broaden the reach of these tools in a very personal way - through the stories of individuals whose lives these tools have changed. I founded the company Connections At Work, LLC to promote these skills in the workplace as well.
About Us
Sharon Small
I have been teaching Clean Language methodologies since 2008. Over the past 12 years I have become an internationally recognized Clean Language trainer, assessor and am the founder of the Clean Language Institute in California. I love innovation, creative solutions and diligence in learning. This makes me a great travel companion on your journey to improve your work, your life and your sense of self.
I believe human language is one of the most fascinating topics that exist and is a key to understanding humans, human knowledge, and how we structure our reality, all at the same time. I love teaching Clean. It is like a bundle of fun and utilitarianism all rolled up into one.
My purpose in editing/writing this book with Andrea is to help give readers a sense of Clean Language and those that are attracted to it. Clean is not for everyone. It is for the curious and those willing to leave the security of common knowledge behind. The variety of contexts Clean language is being used in since the creation of this book has expanded into academic interviewing, cause evaluation, and business applications, as well as being blended with many useful models you may already be using yourself.
This book is about broadening and connecting with people who might love to be part of our international Clean Community.
Curious? Have any lingering questions? Join one of our informational and fun webinars!
Hope to meet you soon,
Sharon