The Solutions Focus

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Solutions FocusBuilding progress in an ever
changing world
Dr Mark McKergow Centre for Solutions Focus at
Work
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Hello from me

• Mark McKergow PhD MBA
• Director. Centre for SF at Workn (sfwork)
• Management consultant and speaker
• Author The Solutions Focus and others
• (Recovering) physicist self organising systems
• Director of sfwork
• Co-founder SOLWorld
• Consultant, speaker
• Physicist (recovering)
• Author The Solutions Focus, Positive Approaches
  to Change and Solutions Focus Working

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Outline for the session

• Hello and welcome
• What is SF?
• The Albert model
• Examples of SF in practice
• Short interactive exercise do some SF
• Usage of SF worldwide
• Discussion connections with Agile, how SF might
  fit with Agile work etc

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Dont know what to do?
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Is the world basically
or
Moving and unpredictable?
Static and predictable?
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Solutions Focus
Change is happening all the time
The simple way to change is to find useful
change and amplify it
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SF is used in many fields

• Therapy
• Family work
• Education
• Peace building
• Life coaching
• Parenting
• Group work
• And organisations/management

• Therapy
• Family work
• Education
• Peace building
• Life coaching
• Parenting
• Group work
• And organisations/management

Open source ethos
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(No Transcript)
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Positive difference and negative difference
Problem
time
Negative difference why is it broken?
Positive difference what makes it better?
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What is the solution The Albert Model
Things should be made as simple as possible, but
no simpler.
Albert Einstein, Physicist and genius
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Solutions Focus
Whats wanted better future
Whats the problem?
P
Dreaded future
Past
Present
Future
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Whats wanted is NOT the opposite of whats wrong
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Solutions Focus
Whats wanted future perfect
Whats the problem?
P
Why is it wrong weaknesses
Whats working strengths
Past
Present
Future
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Solutions Focus
Whats wanted future perfect
Whats the problem?
P
Why is it wrong weaknesses
Whats working strengths
Past
Present
Future
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Solutions Focus
Whats wanted future perfect
Whats the problem?
P
Why is it wrong weaknesses
Action plans
Small steps
Whats working strengths
Past
Present
Future
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Solutions Focus
Whats wanted future perfect
Small steps
Whats working strengths
Past
Present
Future
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Dont panic!!
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Safety in Italy
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Solutions Focus

• Everyday management
• Leadership Development
• Conflict resolution/mediation
• Branding/customers
• Strategy
• Sales
• Stakeholder management
• Motivation/engagement
• Project management

• Coaching
• Team and Organisation Development
• Performance Management
• Facilitation
• Health Safety
• Career guidance
• Outplacement
• Internal consulting

International SOLWorld group solworld.org
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Solutions Focus WorkingCases from SOLWorld

• Reorganisation
• Stakeholder management
• Training
• Outplacement
• Leadership and change
• Business disasters

• Strategy
• Quality improvement
• Morale
• Sales
• Project management
• Everyday management

solworld.ning.com
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Have a go

• Pair up with a neighbour
• One be the consultant, one be the customer
• Pick one thing that the customer wants to do
  better
• Consultant sits facing the screen, customer sits
  facing the other way
• Pause.

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Have a go Problem Talk

• Whats wrong with what youre doing?
• Why are you doing so badly?
• Whats the main cause of your difficulty?
• Whose fault is it?
• What else makes it a problem?
• Why are you likely to continue to fail? 

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Have a go Solution Talk

• What are you aiming to achieve?
• How will you know youve achieved it?
• What was the best you ever did (at this thing)?
• What went well on that occasion?
• What will be the first signs that youre getting
  better?
• How will other people notice this improvement? 

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Whats the difference?
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SF and Agile Parallels and connections?

• What parallels and connections can you see so
  far?
• How might an SF approach be useful in (for
  example) a retrospective?

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The New Wave of change technology

• Solutions Focused
• Not problem focused
• Whats wanted, not whats wrong
• Progress Focused
• not explanation focused
• How do things move in the right direction, not
  why they are how they are now

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New Wave and Old Waves
SF
Progress focused
Agile programming
Quality management
Ai
Explanation focused
Positive psychology
Traditional psychology
Whats wrong
Whats wanted
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Interested to learn more?

• Visit our website
• Read our books
• Train to use SF at work
• Next SF Professional course starts 31 March 2009
• Visit solworld.ning.com
• Try it out!

www sfwork.com
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Easy-to-learn with our Tools and Principles
approach