Welcome to the 2021 Edition

John Brooker, Carey Glass and Annie Bordeleau

Staying Connected

As much as we all long for more human contact, life is letting us wait a little longer. It is a wonderful time to open our heart to all the possibilities ahead, to connect in the moment and see what emerges.

In this year’s 2021 edition, we will continue to enrich the InterAction Collection by publishing two to three innovative SF features in print, audio and video format, every month. We replaced the twice a year format as we consider the new format to be more digestible, enabling you to regularly learn more about new trends and practices of Solution Focus work in organisations.

A team of InterAction Journalists are scouting for great examples of transformational work done by SF practitioners in organisations worldwide. We welcome everyone who has a story, to share it with us, no matter how small.

In this edition

It is a pleasure, in this edition of InterAction to share:

SF CASE STUDIES

• Developing Industrial Resilience - In Christophe’s interview with Jenny, he shares how SF has supported teams to connect with their resilience while their industry is strongly impacted by the crisis.

• How SF underpins Village in the City - Mark set out with the best hope of creating a community amongst his neighbours in the West End of Edinburgh. He sat down to describe the elements of his future perfect, including a host, inclusivity for all, connection to stimulate conversations, meeting places, inclusive gatherings and an ‘identity’, something of which to be proud.

• Transform fast and with lightness - Elvira Kalmar presents an inspiring Case Study session on how, as an Organisational Development consultant, she worked in a Solution Focus way with her client Invitech to bring about an agile transformation fast and with incredible lightness.

SF APPLICATIONS

• Solution Focused Design Thinking - In her Global Chapter talk, Stephanie Hammer explains how she uses Solution Focus in her design thinking work. It is an elegant combination.

• A video/podcast of Alan Kay (Canada) and Cristina Mühl (Germany) talking on Change Facilitator in Organisations; a talk that encompasses the use of the round (or kitchen) table approach, experience with using Miro’s online whiteboard for facilitating online and a stimulating discussion on the difference between complex and complicated prblems.

• Marco Matera’s (Italy) article on Coaching Supervision. Marco creatively compares how people traditionally carry out supervision with a systemic-structural constellation approach, integrated with Solution Focus. In a brilliant metaphor, he sees the supervisor as carrying the keys to a ‘mirror door’, a door in which we can see ourselves and the resources we bring until now. The supervisor helps by providing the key to unlock the door and encourages us to see the future. As Marco says, “The more I see behind me, and the more I stop to see myself, the more I will see when I open the door.”

• Introduction to Host Leading by Leah Davcheva. Mark McKergow and Helen Bailey carved out the model of two steps, four positions, and six roles of a Host Leader. With the guidance of host Dr Leah Davcheva, participants constructed ways to use this model to benefit clients and themselves.

• Parkour and SF Collaboration. Guided by the skilful, gentle questioning of Wendy Van den Bulck, let yourself be absorbed in this fascinating dialogue between Cédric Broux and John Brooker. Listen as they explore in depth the related characteristics of Free Running (Parkour) - a way of expression through interaction with various obstacles and the environment - and the framework for Solution Focused Collaboration espoused by John Brooker, in his latest book ‘Jump Now’.

• Parent-Teacher Bonding in a Singapore School. “Simple, innovative brilliance”, describes this application of SF. In Singaporean society, where parents have such high expectations of their children’s education that it damages parent-teacher relationships at school and requires parents to shift to a growth mindset at home, Edwin has brought an astute application of SF.

• SF in Sports with Morgan Lewis. In this talk, Morgan Lewis shares his SF journey to support young athletes in finding their confidence and connecting to their excellence. Using solution focus questions when coaching the athletes, he engages in a quest to gather evidence of competence, to nurture their self-confidence and self-belief.

SF BOOK REVIEW

• “Jump Now” - In our book review, Marika Tammeaid (Finland) reviews John Brooker’s (UK) latest Solution Focus book on leading Solution Focus collaboration to accelerate sustainable results. This book is a treasure box for facilitator and leaders who want to reflect on their SF practice and create teams that run freely.

• “The Next Generation of Solution Focused Practice” - In our book review, Carey Glass (Australia) reviews Mark McKergow’s latest publication. Since discovering SF’s world-changing paradigm shift in practice and thought, Mark has maintained his steadfast determination, insatiable curiosity and exceptional single-minded focus to explore and unearth understandings of what makes SF so powerful and how that happens so uniquely. His new book brings the fruits of this exploration into print. You can feel the years of thought in its pages.

Interact with us!

We are grateful to be part of such a vibrant and generous community. As well as your material contributions to InterAction, Fika’s and Chapter meetings, your financial contributions have enabled us to update the web platform and use the services of a professional editing company to edit our videos and audios quicker, reducing the voluntary workload.

We invite you to interact with us, the editing team, to share your thoughts, work or any ideas that can enrich our InterAction Collection SF practice in organisations. If you have something you would like to submit or just a sense of something fresh, we can include, let us know. We can help you with language and with the technicalities of video and audio. Please email us.

Enjoy InterAction and let’s stay connected, Your SFiO Team.

Make more possible!