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Belgium

An SF Conversation with Peter Szabó

Liselotte-Baeijaert, John Brooker, Peter Szabó & Carey Glass Introduction by Carey Glass What caused Sleeping Beauty to wake up? The kiss of the Prince or just that the 100 years of sleeping were over? What would we like to believe when we work as coaches, are we the kissing Prince, or do we just happen to be there in the moment when Sleeping Beauty wakes up anyway because 100 years are over?

Facilitating change

Wim Sucaet & Joe Chan Review by Joe Chan As a manager in the senior management of a non – profit organisation I work with people and the community, handling and tackling pressures and expectations from internal and external stakeholders. So, I can relate well to Wim’s position and challenge in this article. As a Solution Focus (SF) practitioner, Wim has really demonstrated some key essence of the SF approach which shone through his works and project:

An SFiO peer review conversation on a SF piece of work

Wim Sucaet, John Wheeler & John Brooker SFiO - Solution Focus in Organisations · Wim Sucaet Introduction by John Brooker This recording and the review comments below are intended to demonstrate an example of a real SFiO review process in action. We hope that it might awaken your interest in having a piece of work reviewed by your peers, or attract you to become a reviewer; if you have already been reviewed.

Looking for opportunities.

John Brooker, Wendy Van den Bulck and Brent-Gardiner Introduced by John Brooker Wendy Van den Bulck is an SF leadership trainer in Belgium who works with horses to teach leaders how to become meaningful to others. I had always thought she applied Solution Focus with horses. As Wendy explains in the video, horses use Solutions Focus with people and each other, one might say, they are “SF Inside”, (with acknowledgement to Yasuteru Aoki, an SF practitioner from Japan, for that concept).

Connective Clarity

Book Review by Anton Stellamans Author - Wendy Van den Bulck - Equoia, 92 pp, ISBN 978-94-63883-85-6, 2019 Wendy Van den Bulck is a familiar face for many of us who attend SOLWorld conferences and summer retreats. We all know how passionately she can talk about her life with her 10 horses and how much wisdom she received from working with them. She has been working as a coach, trainer and consultant since 2010. Two years later, as she and her husband established Equoia, she started to introduce her horses as co-coaches in her practice. Some SF therapists use their dog in the therapy session, Wendy doesn’t hesitate to let you interact with one (or more) of her horses in the coaching session. It is best not to wear your Sunday shoes when you have an appointment with Wendy!

It’s a Family Affair

Louis Cauffman & Andrew Gibson SFiO - Solution Focus in Organisations · Louis Cauffman A Chapter with the Author Conversation with Louis Cauffman and Andrew Gibson above Louis Cauffman & Andrew Gibson Book reviewed by Andrew Gibson I once met a new client who owned a small boutique hotel. She wanted to retire and pass her business on to her children. Unfortunately, neither of her children wanted to take the business on. So what was she to do? She needed help. In this small example, just one difficult family business problem is apparent. How do you help family businesses where there is all the added complexity of family ownership and involvement?

Different Opinions Dialogue

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:

Become (even) better at making choices

Wendy Van den Bulck Introduced by Owen Charnley “There is no doubt that great conversations play an important role in helping people change.” Wendy Van Den Bulck From: “Connective Clarity (When Horses Invite You to Take Up Authentic Solution Focused Leadership”) In this edited recording of an SF24 workshop, Wendy summarises core elements from her book Connective Clarity. She provides many valuable tips on using SF to coach people in the art of Solution Focus, particularly on making choices.

Time for Youth

Will Reed & Katalin Hankovszky SFiO - Solution Focus in Organisations · Time for Youth - A Solution Focus Conversation with Will Reed Introduced by Liselotte-Baeijaert In this podcast, we hear Will Reed, a 19-year-old solution-focused practitioner, in conversation with Katalin (Kati) Hankovszky.

SF research initiatives

Karen-De-Waele, Joe Chan We met Karen De Waele at the SF in a Large-Scale Context Unconference in December 2019 and she inspired us to start this new section of our InterAction journal, sharing Research Initiatives in organisational contexts. She is calling for your support in connecting her to organisations for her project. Contributor Joe Chan from Singapore also has a research project underway and we include his summary below. If you would like to contact them, please use their email addresses.