SF Respects the Not Invented Here Syndrome
Interview with Ben Furman
Sep 17, 2024
Carey Glass Kirsten Dierolf ben-furman
Abstract
Dr Ben Furman is a psychiatrist, inspirational speaker and author from Finland. He is renowned for his practical adap- tations of the SF approach in different settings. In Kids’ Skills, people involved in the upbringing of children learn how to encourage children to develop the skills they need to overcome their difficulties. Together with his colleague Tapani Ahola, he created the Twin Star and Reteaming models as practical applications of SF in organisations. The first offers very practical suggestions on how to improve the psychosocial environment of the work place. The latter pres- ents concrete steps to motivate people to change. One characteristic of Ben Furman’s approach is the avoid- ance of blame storming. Talking about problems and what caused them quickly leads to accusations and excuses. These can be overcome by engaging in “solution talk”: talking about what you want instead of the problem and what can be done to get there. Another constant in his work is his inter- active perspective: “We work with teams even when we work with individuals.”