Application

Lily Deforce & Vonneke Beeker ↗ Introduced by Katalin Hankovszky In times of debate and division, this dialogue format is a true treasure to experience. Lily Deforce and her colleagues at Ilfaro embraced an initiative that brings people together around significant, yet divisive, questions. With their solution-focused approach, they designed the “Different Opinions Dialogue,” a structured process allowing any two people to listen deeply to each other and understand one another’s perspectives. In less than an hour, a truly enriching experience unfolds. The purpose of these dialogues is to enter a mode of listening and discovery—not to convince someone with opposing views or resolve a conflict. The structure is beautifully simple:

Annette Gray Synopsis Annette Gray and Paut Struik’s session on the Mindsetter Game at the Unconference was designed as a dynamic and engaging way to introduce and apply solution-focused (SF) thinking in the context of sustainability. They chose to use the Mindsetter Game to facilitate discussions on how SF practitioners can integrate strategies for sustainable organisational practices. They drew particularly on Annette’s experiences in Antarctica to provide real-world examples of environmental sustainability. The Mindsetter Game, developed initially by Gesa Doringer, serves as both a teaching tool and a therapeutic intervention, promoting solution-focused approaches in various settings.

This article is a summary of ideas for stimulating the quality of training that we have collected from personal experiences, from our colleagues and associates and especially from all the skilful trainers at the SFCT trainers conference in Frankfurt in October 2011. We were fascinated by the rich variety of peda- gogical and ingenious activities!

Andrew Gibson Synopsis The “Best Year Ever” process is a structured Solution Focus (SF) workshop methodology designed to help teams and organisations develop actionable improvement plans, thereby fostering sustainability. This method utilises the SF Numberless Scaling technique, which encourages participants to envision celebrating their most successful year as if it had already happened, then looking to see how much of this is happening now or has happened recently, and then to work out their next small steps in the form of an Action Plan.

Louis Cauffman & Kirsten Dierolf Abstract The Solution Tango is about “management as the art of getting things done through people” (p. 13). It promises insights and tools aimed at the achievement of organisational goals through managers who act as both leader (direction- giver) and coach (enablers of performance). It positions itself as a guide for practitioners – “theoretical considerations are reduced to a minimum” – but nevertheless offers material for the theoretically curious. This book lends itself to regular use by anyone focused on improving management practice. Its structure, voice and style invite scan-reading followed by dipping in, rather than reading as an unfolding narrative. For busy managers, consultants and coaches its index is a real plus – six pages of finely detailed information, making it very user-friendly for the rushed. And the content?

Lien Tettelin Synopsis Lien Tettelin’s open space session on “Good practices in the public sector” focused on strategies for enhancing organisational sustainability. The session explored how public sector entities can integrate sustainability into their decision-making processes, develop relevant strategies and KPIs, and redefine notions of profit to encompass social benefits. Critical strategies discussed included starting conversations around the environmental impacts of decisions, such as carbon footprints, and developing targeted strategies for sectors with the most significant potential impact.

A Global Chapter Meeting with Jenny Clarke Introduced by Stanus Cloete In this SFiO Global Chapter Meeting, Jenny Clarke talks about From Best Hopes to Platform. As the title suggests, she addresses the jargon that we, as SF practitioners use. Different practitioners may use different questions to formulate the Platform. The thought-provoking question is, “What do we want to accomplish with the questions we ask?”

Andrew Gibson Synopsis Andrew Gibson’s open space session delved into innovative methods for integrating solution-focused approaches discreetly within various organisational contexts. Participants shared various strategies tailored to subtly foster positive change without overtly disrupting existing structures or workflows. For example, Roy introduced the concept of “Guerrilla solution-focused practice,” which involves being solution-focused in meetings even if one is the only proponent of such methodologies. This approach includes thinking aloud in a solution-focused manner and maintaining a structured review process in meetings to ensure constructive outcomes.

Ania Smolka Synopsis The open space session facilitated by Ania Smolka on designing ‘sustainable leadership’ programmes was an intensive exploration of ideas on integrating sustainability into leadership practices across various organisational layers. Ania asked three teams to consider the challenge and we show their outputs below. As well, one of the teams highlighted the concept of Regenerative Leadership (subtly different from Sustainable Leadership). Below, you can download a PDF article on the relationship between this concept and Solution Focus.

Stefan Kreil & Patricia Crazzolara