Solutions Focus Working
80 real life lessons for successful organisational change
By Mark McKergow and Jenny Clarke
ISBN 978-0-9549749-4-7
224pp paperback
Published May 2007
Fourteen organisations all over the world tell the stories of how Solutions Focus has helped them to change - and show you many ways to find what works in the workplace.
"Filled with the wisdom of profound simplicity. I highly recommend this insightful and practical book."
Stephen MR Covey, author of The Speed of Trust
"A superb book for anyone interested in how to address change."
Mike Brent, Ashridge Business School
"An invaluable practical resource"
Dr Sabine Demkowski, The Coaching Centre
"A 'must read' recommendation... It immediately expands the applications of the brilliant Solutions Focus approach"
Paul R Scheele, author of Photoreading and Natural Brilliance
This book is a massive fund of experience and know-how about keeping organisational change simple. The fourteen real life cases described here illustrate the Solutions Focus approach in action from widescale change to everyday effective management.
The cases come from a wide range of organisations, including Lufthansa, British Sky Broadcasting, Bayer Cropscience, the Cooperative Group, the Ontario Medical Association and Freescale Semiconductor. They worked on issues including restructuring, strategy development, sales improvement, continuous improvement, team development, outplacement, training and job satisfaction.
International consultants and Solutions Focus pioneers Mark McKergow and Jenny Clarke guide you through the ins and outs of each case, and draw 80 lessons which you can use in building positive change at work and keeping things as simple as possible - but no simpler.
CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Introducing Solutions Focus
Chapter 2: The Power Of One
When coaching one man changes an organisation
Carey Glass and the Cooperative Group
Chapter 3: Engaging people for innovation
Bringing strategy to life in Canadian healthcare
Minna Graham and the Ontario Medical Association
Chapter 4: Turning the tables on quality
Solutions Focus meets continuous improvement at Sky TV
Trevor Durnford and British Sky Broadcasting
Chapter 5: Back To The Future
Increasing Sales with Positive Differences
Kathrin Bauer, Günter Lueger and Magazzin
Chapter 6: Making sense of information
Developing a patient-friendly framework for hospital planning
Peter Röhrig and the Cologne Local Health Conference
Chapter 7: Small steps and Trojan mice
One manager's story of using SF in everyday work
Mona Hojab and Peabody Trust
Chapter 8: Optimising the Organisation
Restructuring at Freescale Semiconductor
Jenny Clarke and Freescale Semiconductor
Chapter 9: Solutions Focus Tackles Complexity
Finding a way forwards through the legal and regulatory jungle
Kirsten Dierolf and Bayer Cropscience
Chapter 10: Creating a future when facing redundancy
Solutions Focused outplacement at Lufthansa Cargo
Monika Houck and Lufthansa Cargo
Chapter 11: Getting a team working together
Establishing more effective ways of working for a senior team
Peter Szabo, Daniel Meier and EB Zurich
Chapter 12: Listening and letting go
Transforming a training department
Mark McKergow and Chelsea Building Society
Chapter 13: Change is in the eye of the beholder
Improving job satisfaction in Sweden
Bjorn Johansson, Eva Persson and Lund employment office
Chapter 14: Project management - surprisingly light and successful
How to stage an international conference without an action plan in sight
SOL 2005 Interlaken conference team
Chapter 15: What went well?
Addressing a business disaster with Solutions Focus
Hans Zeinhofer and Energie AG Vertrieb GmbH
Chapter 16: Solutions Focus Working
Eighty lessons for successful organisational change
Bibliography
Index
More advance praise for Solutions Focus Working...
"There's a big difference between simplistic and simple. The former tends to be superficial (largely because it's on the "near side of complexity") while the latter is profound (having arrived on the "far side of complexity"). Mark McKergow and Jenny Clarke have delivered the latter - a very informative book filled with the wisdom of profound simplicity. I highly recommend this insightful and practical book."
Stephen M. R. Covey, author of The Speed of Trust
"A superb book for anyone interested in how to address change, clearly laid out and with a range of different types of interventions and organisations. The case studies highlight the benefits to real managers in real organisations facing real issues! There will definitely be something for you in this book whether you are a manager, a coach, a change agent or simply someone who wants to understand how the SF approach can work in organisations. This extremely well laid out and practical book brings together both the theory and practice of the SF approach to change in a crystal clear way."
Mike Brent, Programme Director, Ashridge Business School
"This book shows a number of paradoxes at play. To go faster, go slower. To achieve a vision, don't develop a concrete strategy. To achieve great change, take small steps. To get it right, tell people when you've got it wrong - and do something different. Applying the SIMPLE approach is not always easy. Thankfully, as these real-world case studies show, it is clear that it can be energising, engaging - and enjoyable! The SF approach is quick and fun, yet deep enough to deliver long-term lasting results."
Dr Emma Langman, Business Excellence Manager, Atkins
"The book is an invaluable practical resource book for people who are serious about developing people and creating real solutions. This is a practical guide from practitioners for practioners. It provides many examples and evidence that demonstrate that what works in real life does not need to be complicated."
Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Director, The Coaching Centre
"A comprehensive collection of case studies of how Solutions Focus is actually applied in organisations. I loved the ability to see how using the theory will work in my own context and it gave me lots of new ideas to try... This is a great book which will give you ideas of how you can use it in your own practise."
Tricia Lustig, Editor, Organisations & People
"This innovative book draws practical lessons from proven real-life business experience. The international contributors make the book truly multi-lingual while at the same time the skilled and flexible use of language is emphasised. Discovering the use of the SIMPLE model to develop experiments and to work with success shows ways in which you can aim to get results quickly and save money."
Alasdair Macdonald, psychiatrist and trainer; Research Coordinator, European Brief Therapy Association
"Goodbye gurus, farewell fanfares! This is a user-friendly hands-on approach to growth and improvement for business organisations that really works."
Nancy Caldwell, International Negotiation, Intercultural and Innovation Consulting, Paris
"Packed with ideas to use to achieve extraordinary results in corporations. Solutions Focus is very simple... trust the process and do more of it!"
Tim Andrews - speaker and author of 'Where's your spotlight? How to enhance learning for others'
"McKergow and Clarke have created the perfect focal point for practitioners and scholars in the areas of Leadership and Change. The authors have managed to bring together a diverse array of case studies from an impressive international cadre of professionals using Solutions Focus in real-world scenarios. Having been a proponent of Solutions Focus from my first exposure, it is easy to cite examples of its efficacy. Now, this book is a 'must read' recommendation to all my client organizations. It immediately expands the applications of the brilliant Solutions Focus approach."
Paul R. Scheele, co-founder, Learning Strategies Corporation, author of PhotoReading, and Natural Brilliance
The New Wave of Change is in SolutionsBooks!
A brand-new dedicated outlet for writing about Solutions Focus and other positive, constructionist approaches has arrived. SolutionsBooks has been set up by Mark McKergow and Jenny Clarke, and the first two titles are already available through their website www.solutionsbooks.com.
Under the slogan 'The New Wave of Change', Mark and Jenny say that they will be publishing material about the developing movement around Solutions Focus and other positive and interactional change technologies including Narrative and Appreciative Inquiry.
The first two books were published in May 2005:
Positive Approaches to Change: Applications of Solutions Focus and Appreciative Inquiry at Work, edited by Mark McKergow and Jenny Clarke (£13.99, ISBN 0-9549749-0-5)
Team Coaching with the SolutionCircle: A Practical Guide to Solutions Focused Team Development by Daniel Meier (£17.99, ISBN 0-9549749-1-3)
Review from Organisations & People Journal
