SOLworld Conference
8th-10th June 2023
Vienna, Austria
21 years of SOLWorld – 21 years of joy
8th-10th June 2023
Vienna, Austria
21 years of SOLWorld – 21 years of joy
Solution focused practitioners gather at the SOLworld conference to share insights, new ideas, tools and practices as well as a lot of talks about their favourite topic: the application of Solution Focus to current issues.
We will celebrate 20 years of SOLworld, with a mix of great talks, engaging workshops, inspiring lightning talks, book presentations, stories from 20 years of SOLworld, Open Space and more. Please send us your proposals for all kinds of sessions, and we’ll create the best possible program until April. Feel free to keep coming back here to stay up to date.
Around the conference we are planning pre-conference workshops, a guided tour through the city center of Vienna, a joint conference dinner in the world’s largest organic restaurant in Vienna’s Prater, a visit to the world’s oldest and perhaps most beautiful zoo, the Tiergarten Schönbrunn – and, if you want to stay a bit longer, there will also be the excellent Host Leadership Gathering at the Palace Miller-Aichholz. So in one trip to Vienna, you can attend multiple exclusive events, spend time with the most amazing community and experience Vienna at its best.
Be our guest in the Europahaus and the surrounding gardens in Vienna from June 8th-10th, 2023.
Fokus & Teams will present our way of working with leaders as a group when they experience a very high workload and pressure from the staff.
What do you do with a group of leaders who experience no time to reflect on their daily work life?
In this workshop, we will show you how we made them reflect on their work and learn from it and how we made them use this learning to support each other as fellow leaders and have more constructive interactions with the individual employee and the teams.
Format: Workshop
Level: Intermediate/Advanced
No maximum number of attendees
Come and play!
The Mindsetter Game© is an innovative Solution Focused intervention developed with the objective to apply the SF approach in therapy or coaching and teach it in workshops and training. Due to its size of 2x2m and being played on the floor, The Mindsetter is literally holding space for clients and their desired future. And it has proven to be effective to set the stage for new ideas and first steps towards the outcome a client is hoping for.
There are two versions of The Mindsetter available. The first is for teaching SF. This version facilitates an active knowledge acquisition of students or practitioners learning SF or in team supervision. Participants are invited to reflect on four of the basic tenets of this approach and discuss the implications of these tenets in the context of their professional environment. They do this in an SF manner: What is already working? What would they like to see or do differently and what difference would that make? What does ‘leading from one step behind” look like in their diverse work settings? And what to do if something isn’t even broken but they feel like they ought to be fixing it anyway?
Instead of a lecture the game facilitates a collaborative and creative stance. By discussing and reflecting on the questions in small groups, players gain new insights, share sparkling moments, co- create metaphors and formulate their own take- home message. And they decide on a first step towards their professional goal. So far, the training version has been applied and well received in diverse settings: e.g. with peer- support workers, university students, workshop and training participants and teams in diverse health care settings.
The second version of the mindsetter was developed for therapy and coaching and can be used in a group(-therapy) or team setting as well as with individual clients. In this version each participant starts by formulating a personal goal and defining their best hopes for how the session with the mindsetter will be useful for that.
The game creates a safe space where new ideas, hope and self-confidence can flourish. In a group setting it stimulates collaboration and peer support. During the process of the game the players are focusing on their personal goal while moving in spirals around the four quadrants of The Mindsetter. They move through the four quadrants individually, witnessing each other’s process and progress. By answering the SF questions in each quadrant, they are guided to look at their goal and resources from different angles, gaining new perspectives. Even more so by answering out loud, sharing with and listening to each other. Quote from a participant: “The discovery of your personal and each other’s Recovery Universe.”
The questions of the quadrants invite the participants to:
During this SOL- workshop, a short introduction to the game will be given and the lessons learned so far will be shared. The mayor part of the workshop will be interactive and experiential. The participants will play the coaching version of the Mindsetter, experiencing its effect first hand. In plenary we will reflect on that and share ideas. How can game elements enhance therapy and teaching SF? Let’s play and find out....
Format: Workshop
Level: Introductory and Intermediate/Advanced
Maximum number of attendees: 20
Many of us have heard about stakeholder management and how important it is to manage you stakeholders. As SF practitioners we know that we can never “manage” the stakeholders, but we can trigger conversations to build relationships which help to move toward a preferred future.
I will share an approach how to work with stakeholders. This is extremely useful when working with teams in projects, transformations and to drive innovations. It can be applied by any coach/consultant without a domain expertise.
It starts with preferred future, then a traditional stakeholder analysis is done - since most of the clients are familiar with it, it makes it with a good starting point. The teams identify the internal/external stakeholders and start clustering them on the matrix: ‘High interest/low power - keep informed’, ‘High interest, high power - manage closely, ‘Low interest/low power – monitor and ‘Low interest/high power - keep satisfied’. As a next step the names of the stakeholders are transferred to a spreadsheet with SF questions which can be adapted to customer needs. Starting with a scaling question, then asking what is already working and define the next steps, etc. Clients could start working in a SF way from here.
If clients want to get even more out of if a practitioner can create another matrix with SF questions to focus on building relationships and using all resources available in an organization. The benefit of using a second or even third matrix is that you move from stakeholder classification (which is never correct anyway) to building relationships BETWEEN the stakeholders and to support the change on an organisational level. Useful questions will be shared in the session.
During the workshop I will share how to apply this in a virtual, onsite or hybrid set up.
Format: Workshop
Level: Introductory and Intermediate/Advanced
No maximum number of attendees
Working with colleagues on a project about self-organising teams recently, we identified that a significant issue is team decision-making. Existing decision-making frameworks seem problem-focused and can create conflict if used poorly. With colleagues, we developed a more solution-focused framework to counter these issues. We have tested it online with two groups and found it worked well.
I want to share it face-to-face with a wider group of SF colleagues to increase understanding of the Decision Circle amongst the SF community and obtain feedback on how to enhance it further.
This workshop is highly participative. You will discover a new framework you can use in your practice and can contribute to the Decision Circle’s further development.
Format: Workshop
Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Maximum number of attendees: 16
The workshop will offer a twofold activity: The first part will present The Genius Zone(*) as a possible concept to use when building the answer to the Miracle Question. Participants could identify their own Genius Zone and learn a process to do the same with their clients.
The second part will offer the thought of how does one combine the SF paradigm with another paradigm/model. The idea (and the main message) is to continue to develop the SF thinking by interacting between the SF language with another one.
Attendees are to expect at least two benefits:
Attendees will discover their own Genius Zone and, ponder about what might be useful for them to develop in the SF arena.
(*) coined by Gay Hendricks
Format: Workshop
Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Maximum number of attendees: 12
In a VUCA world, organisations are challenged to significantly increase their pace of change. To bring about profound transformations in organisations, leaders and coaches need to apply state-of-the-art “social technologies”. Solution Focus provides such an effective "social technology".
Solution Focused Organisational Development (OD) is a pragmatic and powerful approach to organizational change that combines three benefits that can rarely be achieved in concert: greater speed (fast), more agility (fluid) and stronger stakeholder engagement (fun).
What do Solution Focused change coaches and leaders need to do to reap these benefits and trigger a profound transformation? They may allow themselves to be guided by the Solution Focused OD process, which is vividly illustrated in this contribution by using the metaphor of the "Solution Focused gallery walk".
Chris Iveson at the leading BRIEF Institute in London introduced the metaphor of the "art gallery" as an orientation for Solution Focused conversations in 1999. It was taken up by other SF practitioners, most cogently by Mark McKergow in 2021. I use the 'art gallery' metaphor for the Solution Focused transformational dialogue with an organisation.
Participants will
Together we will walk through the rooms of the gallery and address the following questions:
Format: Workshop/Practitioner Report
Level: Introductory and Intermediate/Advanced
No maximum number of attendees
Let’s go out for a light and meaningful SOLUTIONWALK. Discover a structured way to have a useful coaching conversation with a client and experiment with the idea of using the “wisdom of the place”. There will be a short introduction and then a lot of time to practice.
Format: Workshop
Level: Introductory/Intermediate/Advanced
No maximum number of attendees
The organisations we work with are increasingly interested in evolving their co-responsibility and adaptability, moving towards a more 'eco-centric' approach to leadership rather than an 'ego-centric' one.
When designing leadership development journeys (with SF practices interwoven into their core) one of the key questions we address is: How can we invite leaders and their teams to approach their work with more curiosity, presence, and productive sustainability rather than feel valued for their more heroic tendencies or knowing better, acting fast, and saving the day?
In this short workshop, we are thrilled to share how SF can contribute to leaders embracing the power of 'noticing' change rather than 'driving' change. We will explore how to lead from a place of inner strength and presence to shape futures in the very moment.
Format: Workshop
Level: Introductory and Intermediate/Advanced
No maximum number of attendees
For every great idea, the opposite idea is also true. - Niels Bohr
Do we need to stop eating meat to save the planet? Should we stop flying altogether? When relevant questions as these are the heart of a conversation, the risk of polarization looms around the corner. It takes a lot of courage to be outspoken about our views when we fear a clash of idea’s or worse, a conflict. At such occasions, we might choose to remain silent or to seek the company of like-minded people.
But what if we engaged in such conversations driven by our curiosity to understand? What if our motivation for such dialogues was to evolve in our own thinking rather than to shift other peoples’ mindset in the direction of ours? If we are open to having our opinions challenged, then the encounter of a multitude of views offers exciting opportunities for personal development. Philosopher Hannah Arendt was firm: the opinion of the other with whom you strongly disagree makes you human.
In this workshop we will investigate and experience how to inject the power of the Solution-Focused approach into the societal debate with a better mutual understanding, a more nuanced vision and a higher appreciation of others as a result. With a Solution-Focused mindset, we make the deliberate choice not to put the clash of ideas at the heart of our conversations nor do we want to figure out the underlaying causes. Rather, we carefully explore all that we can learn from the different views around the table, eager to understand what is important for our conversation partners and why that is so. Through the exploration of peoples’ best hopes for the future’ and the changes they want to see, we might uncover that we have much more in common than initially taught. Then, the chances that hopeful possibilities arise are growing and the elements of what at first seemed an impossible common future start to emerge…
One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. - André Gide
Format: Workshop
Level: Introductory and Intermediate/Advanced
Maximum number of attendees: 20
Be amazed, over and over again, of how present SF is in nature. Experience SF as you’ve never experienced it before. Discover how that puts you (even) more at the steering wheel of your work, of your life. Go home with helpful insights, and with a useful gadget, as a physical reminder of the session.
When I got to know SF in 2016 - through Anton Stellamans and Liselotte Baeijaert - I realized that in the years before, horses had already taught me the core essences of it. As a coach/trainer with a main focus on communication and (self-)leadership, I wrote about the striking links between natural horse behaviour and SF in the book that I published in 2019: Connective Clarity. When Horses Invite You to Take up Authentic, Solution Focused Leadership. In the book I provide descriptions and practical tips, in this workshop I take you through experiencing what you can learn from horses about self-leadership.
Find out how horses live SF, and how you can learn from them to deal (more) proactively with – also difficult – situations, by:
No experience is needed, nor specific knowledge about horses. This workshop is for everyone who is curious to find out more about the impact of a Solution Focused mindset on body language, which is a universal language that surpasses the differences between species.
Format: Workshop
Level: Introductory/Intermediate/Advanced
Maximum number of attendees: 30
Many people say "I didn't do anything, I was just listening", implying that listening is a passive activity. However, communication research has shown that listening in face-to-face conversations is an active process where listeners help shape the conversation. Despite this, the myth of listening as a passive activity has been reinforced by communication sciences.
This workshop will explore how solution-focused practitioners and their conversation partners collaborate in curating meaningful dialogues. Find out how SF practitioners utilize their listening to contribute to the process.
Together we will have a closer look at
We will closely examine solution-focused conversations by analyzing video examples using microanalysis of face-to-face dialogue. This approach will allow us to observe and see what happens in a face-to-face conversation moment by moment.
Together we will explore and reflect how we can use these learnings for our individual solution-focused practice.
Format: Workshop
Level: Introductory and Intermediate/Advanced
No maximum number of attendees
Where there is no trust, people do not dare to laugh. Laughing together helps employees feel good and helps retention. It is also a great tool to increase creativity and reduce stress. During the coaching session, creating a safe environment and combining humor with solution focus tools, we can support our clients to achieve their goals faster and in a fun way.
In our interactive workshop, we will build on the participants existing skills and knowledge and provide them with practical incremental tools and methods that they will be able to implement right away. We combine the SF tools with the best practices of the Association of Applied and Therapeutic Humor (www.aath.org) and our own coach experiences. The participants can understand the benefits of humor, try out new tools, discover their own humor style and design their own tools.
Format: Workshop/Presentation
Level: Introductory and Intermediate/Advanced
No maximum number of attendees
In organizations we often face the challenge that across departments information seems to get lost. And even in the team itself, it can happen that not everyone knows which projects are going on. Departments often work in silos and do not glimpse to their neighbors. But there are so many benefits on working cross-functional and knowing what’s going on in the company. Some of them being: Using synergies to create joint-projects, reduce redundances, foster cross-department collaboration and therefore making the company more successful.
So how can an entire team and an entire organization learn across departments what successes each team has achieved in a certain period of time – so that it’s highly engaging, fun and effective instead of just boring meetings PowerPoint slides?
The Solution-Focused Appreciation Stage can help. It fosters information sharing on individual, team and organizational level. Also, it fosters team collaboration, appreciation and therefore psychological safety. An easy tool with many benefits!
In this talk you will learn what it is and how it can be used. You will also gain knowledge a case study (a solution-focused yearly reflection with the appreciation stage) of an organizational development project in a over 100 employee company. I am happy to share my knowledge with you!
Format: Presentation
Level: Introductory and Intermediate/Advanced
No maximum number of attendees
Conflicts arise everywhere where people come together. Sometimes they are big, serious conflicts, sometimes just small disagreements or misunderstandings. Conflicts can cause damage, block projects, disrupt relationships and destroy companies. But they can also bring clarity, movement and progress in business and society.
We have been working for years on how to use the energy of conflicts in a solution-focused way for the positive development of people and companies. In this session we would like to share our most important insights with you - and also do a few practical exercises. We look forward to seeing you there!
In this presentation, I will be sharing my personal and professional experience of the SFA application during the war. I consider what worked and what was difficult; try to summarize the resilient strategies of Ukrainians; highlight (once again)) the power of a single question, and speculate if there are naturally SF people and countries).
Format: Talk – Key Note
Level: Introductory/Intermediate/Advanced
No maximum number of attendees
We are customed to believe that change happens when we effectively do something about the situation we are confronted with. That’s why we tend to look for next steps and solutions that will fix the old problems we are facing. Solution Focus however takes a different route to change. Instead of following the classic cause-effect logic, we rely on the power of imagination to make change flow more naturally.
Often however, SF is still used as a problem solving tool: helping clients to focus on what’s wanted and figure out what steps they need to take in order to climb that stairway to heaven.
To fully embrace the power of SF, we need to step out of our dominant cause-effect logic and step into the wonderful world of imagination, where miracles do happen.
In this session we want to link SF to some powerful philosophical concepts from Aristotle’s Poetics. In this work he analyses how art works through imitation and differentiation (mimesis) and how a certain quality of representation (enargeia) can transform the spectator (katharsis).
In a SF conversation we invite our clients to transpose themselves in different, more resilient versions of themselves (mimesis) as we ask them to create vivid (enargetic) memories of their future perfect and their past successes. Thus creating a state of transformation (katharsis) just by means of our conversations.
Zooming out from our SF conversations - yet staying in the theatrical context - we will going look at the staging of our practice. In theatre, the dramaturg is that person who makes sure that what is being said on stage is enhanced by the elements around it. The setting, the tone of voice, the attitude and body language and all other scenic elements like props, light and music, all contribute to the quality of the (verbal)action on the scene. So, suppose we are looking like dramaturgists at our work, what could we do on that level to enhance the quality of our work even more?
Format: Presentation
Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Maximum number of attendees: 45
We are all here because we like working in a Solution Focused (SF) way. But what is at stake here? Is SF just a way of being nice? Is it about the comfort of not-knowing? Or does it tell us something about how working with people can be both humane AND effective? Join Mark McKergow In the workshop to briefly look back at how SF came into being, how it is now and what its evolution might tell us about the way that people and the world work.
Format: Workshop
Level: Introductory/Intermediate/Advanced
Maximum number of attendees: 25
“An unrecognized difference (since it goes by unnoticed) will not receive the amplification needed and will remain a difference that does not make a difference. A simple difference, often just some doubt, can be enough to begin changing a lifelong pattern or way of thinking.” (de Shazer, 1986).
A key skill for a host leader is noticing: noticing within ourself, noticing of others, noticing of relationships ... and the noticing itself can be enough to change several maps.
“The map is not the territory, and the name is not the thing named.” (Gregory Bateson, based on Alfred Korzybski)
In my view the most important asset of being a host leader is noticing bits and pieces of the great stuff that people do and being genuinely curious about it. In this session you will learn to train your ‘noticing muscle’ to become even more skillful and resourceful in it. We’ll have dialogues, share stories, and explore a world of possibilities ... just by noticing.
Format: Workshop
Level: Introductory/Intermediate/Advanced
No maximum number of attendees
There is a relatively long- and well-established tradition of teaching and training psychotherapy. This tradition adheres to the medical model in which the instructor controls the process being both a knowledgeable and a powerful figure. Students/trainees are expected to meet the requirements and standards set by the instructor’s professional authority, to acquire a specifically designed body of knowledge, and to submit themselves to a process in which they are expected to become aware to their own psychological characteristics/difficulties.
My experience as an instructor and a supervisor has led me to recognize that this traditional training process frequently evokes among students/trainees the wish to please and satisfy what they believe to be my expectations as an authoritative figure, instead of investing in the development and expansion of their own existing capacities and strengths.
The SF approach offers me the means for encouraging students/trainees to rely and develop their self-inherent resources. However, the implementation of the SF approach is not fully compatible with the traditional way of instructing psychotherapy.
In the workshop I will share some of the challenges I face in my attempt to work along the SF approach. I would very much like to hear thoughts, ideas, free associations, whatever the participants will be willing to share with us with the purpose of thinking about these issues creatively.
The workshop may be interesting for whoever is involved in instructing and supervising. It may also offer some benefit for professional who practice the SF approach in a variety of additional systems which are not operating in accordance with the principles of the SF approach.
Format: Workshop
Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Maximum number of attendees: 25
When sharing feedback, we want to provide opportunities for learning and growth. Done well it can strengthen our relationships and raise performance. Done poorly it can be uncomfortable and even devastating for the recipient.
Working with clients on global leadership programmes, we created this workshop to take the fear out of feedback. We will give you the tools to start delivering meaningful messages in ways that are heard and acted on. You'll experience our new 6-step SF SPIRAL feedback model which offers step-by-step guidance on how to approach these conversations with confidence.
From attending this session, you will:
Format: Workshop
Level: Introductory/Intermediate/Advanced
No maximum number of attendees
Join our session and try out the exercise we have developed to introduce agility to any organization without training people or a need for any big transformations. The tool we are using is building on the solution-focused principles.
Agile transformations might look scary and too big a bite to take on, but they can be done with ease and lightness if you find the right way to bring in the most important elements of it, and it works in any type of organization in any industry.
You do not need any agile training or any OD experience to join our session, your curiosity and readiness to get involved will be enough. We hope to have fun together and you can take the exercise instructions with you at the end and use it with your next client.
You will learn a tool you can start using with your clients to introduce agility without touching the formal structure of any organization. This means they can avoid lengthy and cumbersome transformations. Every organization needs to adapt fast to a fast-changing world, and continuously fine-tuning their operation will help in answering the ever-changing customer needs.
We hope to reinforce you that you have all the skills and capabilities to support changes on an individual and systemic level. Our best hope is that many more organizations realize they can easily introduce agility into their life and we count on you to spread the good practice.
Format: Workshop
Level: Introductory/Intermediate/Advanced
Maximum number of attendees: 30
Inge-Katz-Schule is a vocational college in Bremen, Germany. Within the last 6 schoolyears at about the half of its stuff attended a solution focused qualification which allows them to shape their work with learners future oriented, resource based and consequently building on classroom interactions among the learners. In this workshop you will meet the school principal who shapes her work with her staff solution focused.
Meet Judith and learn more about her approach to leading in this environment. While she is clearly committed to the practice of an appreciation-based school life, she is the one who addresses the challenging situations with her staff in her occasion-based evaluations: Conversations in which she holds to her perspective of the whole and speaks her appreciative language, calling for the behaviors of each staff member that serve the goals and spirit of the organization - in her individual way.
Judith is also using her solution focused methods to strengthen the self-efficacy of her staff and you will experience some of her ways to encourage teachers to address relevant hard topics in staff meetings.
Format: Workshop
Level: Introductory/Intermediate/Advanced
No maximum number of attendees
Successful organisations plan their leadership development with great care, because it pays off in the long run. Leaders have a significant impact on employee motivation and performance, and that's what makes a company sustainably prosperous.
In a wide range of leadership trainings, with a variety of focuses and a diversity of tools SF leadership trainings stand out. We’ve explored it in the past years – apart as well as together – and we want to take you along our experiences and experiments.
Adopting an SF mindset as a leader is investing in creating fertile ground, in which plants and seeds have a good chance to sprout and grow. This process is different from buying seeds and plants first, and then try to find out what they need, hoping that as many as possible will survive.
In our workshop, we will take you along our way of setting up an SF Leadership Training – with an sf spirit.
Just like our training, or workshop will be mostly learning by doing. We use theory input sparingly and spend more time in training solution focused tools in small groups. The workshop consists of three parts:
This workshop is for everyone who has an interest in SF Leadership Trainings.
Our intention for the workshop is to create a space to interact, exchange and experience.
Our best hope for you coming to our workshop is that you bring a sound dose of curiosity and joy.
Format: Workshop
Level: Introductory/Intermediate/Advanced
Maximum number of attendees: 30
Brief summary: We will explore how we can live and co-create a “flourishing life” for ourselves and for all. The workshop integrates solution-focused coaching with experiential learning, using the method of psychodrama.
Context: Our world is ridden by many crisis phenomena, including ecological destruction and a dooming climate catastrophe reminding us of the finite resources of our Earth. Yet, we long for joy, for meaning, for a sense of being at home in this world. Can we be happy without cutting ourselves off from the rest of the world, becoming an ostrich? Can we contribute to a better world in a meaningful way without being overburdened, carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders like the Greek God Atlas? Does it make sense to speak of happiness and good life today?
The science of positive psychology is booming, as well as the popular culture and business “selling” happiness. In parallel, the so-called “well-being economy” is gaining momentum, especially in the UK, arguing that economics should ultimately measure its success in terms of well-being of people, not GDP or profits.
These efforts signal that we need new, positive collective narratives that are authentic, meaningful and can inspire us. And we need to find our personal pathways, not only intellectually, but also emotionally and embedded in our lives, in our everyday actions. Others can inspire and encourage us in our journey: it is so important to know that we are not alone in this!
Process and method: The workshop will start with a short introduction on what “flourishing life” is and why it could inspire us in our quest for a happy life that also cares about others and the Earth. It will be followed by an action-oriented, embodied exploration of the theme in the “Laboratory of Flourishing Life”. The Laboratory of Flourishing Life integrates elements of the psychodramatic method with a solution-focused approach.
The psychodrama method is a recognized approach to psychotherapy and counselling; but also effectively used in education and training, and academic mentoring at universities; and it is a robust form of leadership training. In my view, psychodrama is a brilliant method bound by its unfortunate name. Although the founder Jacob Levy Moreno derived the name from the Greek words soul (psyche) and action (drama), referring to the action of the soul and the theatrical genre, both the words of psycho and drama have connotations that can be alarming today.
In the Laboratory of Flourishing Life, all forces come to life that are necessary for a flourishing life and connect us to our joyful, creative state of being. The world we long for can take shape. We will be able to relate to our deepest aspirations, clarify what is really important to us. We do not simply speak or think about these things, but rather explore them with our bodies, emotions, intuitions. There is a safe place to playfully explore ourselves and to interact with others.
During the workshop, participants can explore their own inner attitudes, values and motivation with respect to their own flourishing selves as well as a flourishing life for all.
You are invited for a creative exploration to
No prior knowledge or special skills are needed. Paradoxically, the method works best when someone does not want to perform, meeting some perceived expectation, but is willing to show themselves, authentically, as they are.
Underlying Theory: The theoretical underpinning of the work is outlined in my book “Sustainable Hedonism. A Thriving Life That Does Not Cost the Earth” published by Bristol University Press in May 2021. The book explores the notion of a “good life” based on ancient Greek philosophy, modern psychology, social psychology and psychodrama. The book brings together three strands (environmental, social, individual), but it does not stop at just outlining the theory, but also encourages a process of self-reflection and experiential learning.
Flourishing life, based on Aristotle and modern psychological theories, provides a useful conceptual basis for a “good life for all”, as it encompasses pleasure as well as virtue. In other words, we can “live well” and “do well”. We can cultivate our abilities to enjoy life, and can also take action for our “flourishing life”. Happiness is thus not selfish, not only an emotional state, and does not depend purely on luck and external circumstances, but rather, it is “the activityofthesoul”. Thebookshowsthatpsychodramacanbecomethe laboratory of the „flourishing life” and thus powerfully support personal and collective transformation in our crisis-ridden world.
Format: Workshop
Level: Introductory/Intermediate/Advanced
Maximum number of attendees: 20
What do SF practitioners involved in large-scale change projects do that works?
The Macroanalysis Study Group has been studying this question for the last two years. We have looked at case stories together and managed to identify some distinctive features of SF organisational development processes.
In the first part of our workshop we would like to share these insights with you and get your ideas and feedback on them.
During the second part of our workshop we will hear a short presentation of an OD case. We will form reflecting teams to collect “wow-moments”, ideas and insights – both for ourselves as well as for our case-owner.
We will conclude with a harvest of new insights and possibly further questions leading to more learning in the future.
If you
Come prepared to share your experiences and gain new insights!
Format: Workshop/Practitioner
Level: Intermediate/Advanced
No maximum number of attendees
The Structured Solution Analysis is a useful sf instrument for coaching conversations based on a model developed by Julio Olalla. He has created a simple formula for success in coaching that shows what it takes for change to happen. Inspired by these ideas we created a simple tool out of it – of course with quite a few scales in it.
In this highly interactive workshop we will provide the idea of this “formula for change” and you will get a lot of time to practice, experiment with it, and hopefully get inspired by it.
Format: Workshop
Level: Introductory/Intermediate/Advanced
No maximum number of attendees
Change is always happening. Therefore, as SF practitioners we continuously develop unique and personalized insights and comprehensions that go beyond the original or formal formulations that were proposed by the founders and instructors of the SF approach. The aim of the workshop is to explore through a co-constructive process our evolving ideas about the SF approach, in a manner that may offer each of us a mutual benefit. It will be conducted in a format similar to that of the ‘Balint groups’ methodology.
Format: Workshop
Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Maximum number of attendees: 25
In organisations, “solutions” equal activities that create value for customers, income for the enterprise and satisfaction for the people doing the work, simultaneously. A sustainable flow of valuable solutions (aka “value stream) from the organisation to the customer is a core goal of any organization.
To contribute to this, Solution Focus (SF) over the years has opened itself up for contact with, and at times integration of, neighboring approaches, from Appreciative Inquiry to Agile Teams.
Here, I would like to share my very positive experiences with a combination of SF and “Constraints Focus (CF)”.
My conviction is: SF and CF are like two sides of the same coin, or two eyes in the same head, providing “depth of vision” by the different, but complementary views. And their combination is even more valuable to customers (and more fun for coaches and consultants ...) than each of the approaches alone.
While SF will probably be familiar for most people attending this conference, CF may be new to many, so let me explain briefly, some core concepts:
Here, I would like to share what I learned about taming change and bottlenecks, and improving the performance of organisations, through a combination of SF and CF (Solutions and Constraints Focus), having known and applied both for decades.
I will provide some input of “maps” for the “territories” of SF and CF. You will have ample opportunity to explore, reflect, and apply this, in small groups, to your personal experience, in your respective coaching and consulting environments
Warning: This combined approach may help change and improve your own performance in significant ways.
If you dare, don’t mind, or even welcome that risk, then come in and enjoy!
Format: Presentation & Workshop
Level: Intermediate/Advanced
No maximum number of attendees
This session is in German and English
"Solution Trails" are walks that open up a new perspective on your surroundings and on your life by using solution-focused questions to work on current issues or to strengthen resources independent of an issue. Especially for the big challenge to keep our world as a place worth living for us humans, we would like to use "Solution Trails" and develop them further with you. In this workshop
«Solution Trails» sind Spaziergänge, die dir einen neuen Blick auf die Umgebung, auf dich und auf dein Zusammenleben eröffnen, indem mit lösungsfokussierten Fragen aktuelle Themen bearbeitet und/oder unabhängig von einem Thema Ressourcen gestärkt werden können.
In diesem Workshop
Willkommen sind alle interessierten Teilnehmer:innen, es braucht keine Vorkenntnisse und es ist unabhängig der Erfahrung.
Format: Presentation
Level: Introductory/Intermediate/Advanced
No maximum
This workshop is designed to provide you with practical tools and strategies from communication science that can be immediately applied to enhance your practice and pedagogy. Informed by Microanalysis of Face-to-Face Dialogue (MFD) and Dialogic Orientation Quadrant (DOQ), you will learn how to analyze conversations in useful and usable chunks for your learning and teaching.
We will explore various ideas and heuristics from communication science, including curative listening, reflective practice, and direct observation of interactions. Through a combination of video recordings, live demonstrations, and participant-chosen activities, you will gain a deeper understanding of these concepts and how to apply them in your daily practice. Also, we will use a range of short video recordings to illustrate patterns and functions of interactions. These videos will be analyzed together in the session based on your curiosities and methods of choice, encouraging everyone to share their insights and observations. Live demonstrations may also be used to show how to apply a few simple tools in practice - whether in a coaching session with clients or a supervision session with learners. You will have the opportunity to practice “observing” interactions in real-time conversations.
In addition, you will have the opportunity to choose from a selection of activities that align with your interests and research/learning focus. These activities could include using the tools introduced in the session to craft new tools for your use. By tailoring the activities to meet individual needs and interests, you can make the most of their learning experience. Throughout the workshop, your creativity and curiosity are the biggest contributors! You will be encouraged to share your experiences and insights to learn together. By the end of the workshop, you will have gained or enhanced highly applicable skills and insights into how to refine your craft of conversing. You will have a deeper understanding of the communication patterns in your coaching interactions and be equipped with practical tools and strategies to improve your practice and pedagogy. Of course, there are no guarantees that any of this will come to fruition, but this is my best hope and I hope you bring yours too.
Format: Workshop
Level: Introductory/Intermediate/Advanced
No maximum number of attendees:
Being a leader in these times isn’t easy – it is complex, ambiguous, demanding. Leaders need advanced leadership skills, they need support on how to deal with their daily leadership challenges, but they also need to develop higher levels of leadership awareness and consciousness along the way. These levels of leadership skills, awareness and consciousness are often not developed alone or in isolation. And, this is a much longer term professional and personal learning journey that can extend over many years.
I believe that we as (SF) coaches can play a crucial role in supporting those leaders who are willing to step up on their developmental journey.
In this workshop, I would like to engage with you on how to combine being a truly dedicated Solution focused coach with being a highly committed leadership development expert. Are these two different worlds or can they merge in a meaningful way.
I have made my own experiences and worked with different leadership awareness models over the last years, and would like to share one of my favorite leadership development models with you and then jointly explore with you
This workshop is supposed to be both an exchange on how we all to support leaders in this area but also offers opportunities for exploration and personal insight on how these models can create more awareness for ourselves on our own growth and development as coaches.
Format: Workshop
Level: Intermediate/Advanced
No maximum number of attendees
Steve de Shazer was delighted to discover many parallels between his thinking about therapy and the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein. He repeatedly used striking statements by Wittgenstein to illustrate Solution Focused principles, especially on the topic of language, on which Wittgenstein made many significant contributions.
The parallels between Wittgenstein's reflections and SF practice are so striking that Dan Hutto, a notable Wittgenstein scholar, is reported to have exclaimed upon hearing a transcript of an SF conversation read out by Chris Iveson: “This is philosophy translated into action!”
But not just in therapy, also in organisational work the parallels between Wittgenstein´s thinking and SF practice provide illuminating insights. However, most of us are not trained as philosophers. So how to draw benefit from a philosopher who turned philosophy on its head much in the same way that Steve de Shazer turned psychotherapy on its head? This workshop is here to help.
We will focus on three relevant areas of Ludwig Wittgenstein´s thinking: His thoughts on
We will discuss the following questions:
Format: Workshop
Level: Intermediate/Advanced
No maximum number of attendees
Re-thinking the ways of working of an organization or function without initiating a big transformation project is what every OD professional is aiming for. Transformations are often cumbersome, require lot of effort and resources, and at the end of the day many of them will not deliver the expected return on investment.
Can we do this differently?
With a solution-focused approach we definitely can!
A global commercial organizational unit at a big Pharma company needed to deliver successful product launches while dealing with the in-market portfolio challenges and planning to support early pipeline assets.
How to manage this complex challenge with limited resources? How to change the internal ways of working to meet customer needs?
During the session I will present a case where small steps entirely transformed the ways of working of an organizational unit. I talk about my learning as well - what went well and what I would do differently next time. This session intends to de-mystify organizational transformation from SF perspective.
You will enjoy it if you have a basic understanding of organizational transformation, leadership coaching and solution-focused mindset. You can take away some inspiration and learning on a bite-sized transformation that increased the customer-centricity and performance of an organizational unit following SF principles.
Join us to enrich the conversation with your curiosity and perspective! After the sharing part we will discuss my case with the audience and think it further together to realize even greater benefits in the future.
Format: Workshop
Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Maximum number of attendees: 15
This session is in German
Aus dem Problemraum rein in den Lösungsraum... Das dies mit dem Lösungsfokus wirkungsvoll, nachhaltig und mit höherer Geschwindigkeit passieren kann, ist schon ein kleines Wunder. Mit Hilfe des 4-beinigen Co-Trainers oder Co-Coaches wird dieser Weg und der Prozess positiv unterstützt. Wie? Das werden Bobbie (Hund) und ich euch erzählen.
Format: Practitioner Report
Level: Introductory and Intermediate/Advanced
No maximum number of attendees
In this session we will all work together to meet tomorrows challenges with SF.
The SOLWorld steering group meets at every SOLWorld international conference. The meeting is open to all, and participants may join the steering group (but are not obliged to join). The meeting will hear from organisers of events since the last international conference in 2019, and be open for proposals for future events. Would you like to help organise a SOLWorld event? Come along!
Join the premiere of the first live SFiO Fika! During the COVID crisis, SFiO ran a weekly online Fika to unite isolated Solution Focused practitioners worldwide. We designed the Fika to be a relaxed gathering where people could meet, chat, have fun and learn from each other over a drink. After the lockdown ended in most countries, we maintained the Fika as a monthly event on the third Sunday of the month at 1000 UK time. It continues still. To celebrate the first live SOLWorld post-COVID we are holding the first ever live SFiO Fika. We warmly invite you to join us and experience the Fika live. It will be interactive, enjoyable and we all might learn something!
If you stay for an extra day and have time and interest on Sunday to spend another day with us, the sinnvollFÜHREN team invites you to visit the beautiful zoo Schönbrunn.
It was founded by the Habsburgs in 1752 and is the oldest zoo in the world. In Anthony Sheridan’s zoo ranking, the zoo was named as the best European zoo five times in a row (2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2018).
We would get a guided tour there at 10am and of course also visit our “foster kids”, the rock penguins. The tour takes about 2 hours. Afterwards you can – as long as you want – have a free look around the Tiergarten all day long.
The conference dinner took place on Friday evening, June, 9th, at the fabulous Kolorik’s Luftburg, which is the largest organic restaurant in the world.
The conference dinner (6:15 pm-23:15) has a long tradition of SF performances by the participants. Of course, we’ll continue with that 😀 We reserved the “Glas Palace“ at the Luftburg-restaurant in the Vienna Prater (see picture below) to have enough space for us alone.
Since animals are not allowed at the conference site, we had a special session with Bobby and his owner before the dinner at the Prater to learn more about SF with animals.
Included in the dinner ticket are the following drinks for 5 hours (yes, as much as you like): beer & Radler on tap, house wine white & red, G’spritzter (a refreshing mix of wine and mineral water 1:1), Hugo Spritz, Sommer spritz (mix of wine and mineral water 1:3), grape juice, naturally cloudy apple juice, homemade lemonades, Simply Cola, Viennese high spring water, Gasteiner mineral water, Coffee from “Alt Wien”, and various teas. Furthermore, you get a four-course buffet meal with Austrian specialities (starters, salads, soup, main, and dessert) – each consisting of a choice of 3-4 dishes, one of each will be vegan. Given the current prices, we got a good deal :-D.
Europahaus Wien, Linzer Str. 429, 1140 Wien
The House of Europe, next to the Miller-Aicholz Palace, is a well-suited venue for this conference.
Please check out the possibilities on how to get there…
We are here to help you to make this a great conference for all.