Mark McKergow
SFiO Director
SFiO Reviewed Practitioner
InterAction Contributor
SFiO Contributor
The Centre for Solutions Focus at Work (sfwork)
Dr Mark McKergow is co-director of sfwork – The Centre for Solutions Focus at Work, based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
He is an international consultant, speaker and author. Many people around the world have been inspired by his work in Solutions Focus – presented wth his inimitable blend of scientific rigour and performance pizzazz. Mark was instrumental in starting the SOLWorld network of organisational SF practitioners in 2002. He is a reviewed SFiO contributor and supervises coaches and SF practitioners.
Mark is a global pioneer applying Solutions Focus ideas to organisational and personal change. He has written and edited four books and dozens of articles and was on the InterAction editorial team from 2009-2016; he is also one of the leading practitioners using SF processes in team and organisational development. Through sfwork Mark offers consulting, training, supervision, coaching and many ways to discover and engage with SF practice. He has also become know for his work developing Host Leadership ideas since 2003. In the pandemic lockdown of 2020 he started Village In The City, applying SF and Host Leadership ideas to micro-local community development.
Reviewed Piece of Work:
A two day event for Jo Downs Handmade Glass, a small art/design/retail organisation
This event was an interesting challenge, featuring a large group (130) and very wide range of participants (many of whom had never attended any learning event since leaving school). The company produces handmade glass and sells it through their six galleries/shops, as well as through other retailers.
The organisation had grown quickly and somewhat haphazardly. The CEO Tom Downs (brother of artist Jo Downs) asked us to come in for a two day session to teach some SF ideas and tools and also to help the team use these tools to find ways forward with some of their challenges. We ended up moving forwards on management structure, communications between galleries and production, stock issues and housekeeping. We based our input for the event on our ‘SF Coaching with OSKAR’ model, as this is probably the simplest and most memorable version of SF we know. The bulk of the time was taken up with the team tackling a number of issues, using SF ideas with our help. The whole event was deemed a great success by Tom Downs and the participants.
- Lead reviewer: Shaun Lincoln
- Second reviewer: yasutero-aoki