Marika Tammeaid
Introduced by Carey Glass This article is short yet packs much thoughtful punch. It provides two practical tools for use in large scale change.
The first tool is a spin-off from the concept of an SF scale. It represents hierarchical organisations as a ladder to enable thinking about interactions from all perspectives; the broad perspective of leadership to the coalface perspective of staff.
The second is an elegant way of mapping the continuum and need for organisational stability, or change, against the level of environmental uncertainty. It provides a fantastically, manageable way of representing complexity for practical engagement and outcomes.
Michele Orr
Introduced by Carey Glass What forms of power does a leader need for a remote working team during COVID19? Michele Orr heads up a mental health team in Melbourne, Australia and describes what levers have been necessary for remote working to succeed.
Interestingly, from a clinical standpoint, staff have used Solution Focus more with clients and more effectively, when they focus on listening to clients on the telephone, rather than face to face.
Haesun Moon
Synopsis Haesun Moon’s “The Loving Organisation” session explored the profound impact of integrating love, expressed as empathy, compassion, and care, into the workplace. This session, inspired by the work of Apruv Gupta, MD, and Kristin Bodiford, Ph.D and grounded in Khalil Gibran’s quote, “Work is love made visible,” aimed to elucidate how such emotions can be a driving force in organisational settings, particularly in healthcare but applicable to other sectors as well.
Paul Z Jackson
Synopsis At the SOLWorld Unconference, ‘Exploring How Solution Focus creates sustainable organisations’, Paul Z Jackson led a session to explore what SF distinctively offers for treating organisations as sustainable entities that aim to persist and evolve. The outcomes of this exploration add to the more familiar idea of SF Projects, which merely conclude.
The group discussed organisations as living systems that adapt continuously to survive, challenging business paradigms that often prioritise quick profits and short-term political gains. The dialogue pointed out the dangers of such shortsightedness, suggesting that sustainability and adaptability are essential for long-term success and stability within the broader ecological and societal contexts.
Eva was introduced to SF in 2018 and has been applying it with passion ever since. She coaches individuals and teams, with a strong focus on resilience, team collaboration, and career development. With more than 23 years of experience in program management within the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, she is deeply committed to integrating SF into teams’ daily routines. More recently, she has begun supporting international start-ups during their build-out phase in Europe, where introducing SF into teams has proven highly successful.
Guy Shennan is an independent solution-focused therapist, coach and trainer who has used the solution-focused approach for nearly 30 years. He is based in London, England, where he worked with BRIEF between 2004 and 2010. He created and co-led BRIEF’s Diploma in Solution-Focused Practice, which began in 2005.
Guy trained originally as a social worker and was the Chair of the British Association of Social Workers from 2014 to 2018. In 2018, Guy co-founded the Solution-Focused Collective to explore ways of using solution-focused ideas and practices for social change.