Interaction

John Brooker & Annie Bordeleau We connect, interact and grow with Solution Focus practitioners globally, so that together we spread, nurture and sustain the seeds of Solution Focus within organisations. This 2025 edition of the InterAction Collection shares more compelling stories about how practitioners around the world inspire the solution-focused evolution. In this year’s edition, we are showcasing the highlights of the SOL World Conference 2025, taking place this year in Mechelen, Belgium as well as the application of the Solution Focus (SF) approach within various organizational contexts.

Mark McKergow , Kirsten Dierolf , Anton Stellamans & Carey Glass Volume 1.1 - May 2009 Welcome to the first issue of InterAction, the journal of SF in organisations. This journal will cover recent developments and research by publishing peer reviewed articles. Members of the editorial team or the editorial advisory board will ensure a high standard and comment on submitted articles in a process that is a learning experience for all involved. Links to other interactional, emergent and post-structural approaches will be explored.

Mark McKergow , Kirsten Dierolf , Anton Stellamans & Carey Glass Volume 2.1 - May 2010 One year on … what’s better? SFCT has now been functioning for just over a year. In that time we have seen much progress. This is the third issue of InterAction, which is helping us to establish SF as a credible intellectual, as well as practical, tradition as we build links with universities and academics around the world. The growth of our editorial advisory board, now including Mike Brent from Ashridge Business School in the UK, is testament to this.

Mark McKergow , Kirsten Dierolf , Anton Stellamans & Carey Glass What can we know about Solution Focus? How do we con- duct research into our subject matter most appropriate- ly? The classic paper by Paul Cilliers featured in this edition of InterAction talks about what we can know. It makes the point that a “modest position” between “absolute knowledge” and “relativism” is most appropriately adopted when you are deal- ing with complex systems. We assume that conversations, help- ing conversations, and interactions to draw forward an organ- isation are best understood as instances with a complex nature. This poses a conundrum for those of us who want to research it: if something cannot be grasped or described in its entirety – how can you research it? Can you formulate hypotheses and test them? What can you know at all? And how can you make your research into the complexity of helping conversations (knowing that you are dealing with complex systems) relevant for a public that often falls into either the neo-positivist trap (treating complex-meaning problems as molecular problems) or the esoteric trap (going with hunches, anything goes and refusing to do any serious research at all). Here are the kinds of research into SF that have so far been conducted:

Mark McKergow , Kirsten Dierolf , Anton Stellamans & Carey Glass Research and the enactive paradigm In this 11th issue of InterAction we are featuring papers which emerged from the Orienting Solutions 2013 conference at the University of Hertfordshire. These range from the philosophi- cal (Gale Miller’s refreshing look at the work of Kenneth Burke) to practical (Stephan Natynczuk’s application of SF in adventure therapy). We also have a paper crossing the theory/practice divide from Zuzanna Rucinska and Ellen Reijmers, who examine systemic play therapy through a framework of embodied and enactive cognition.

Mark McKergow , Kirsten Dierolf , Anton Stellamans & Carey Glass Editorial Volume 7 issue 1 Widening our readership The issue of InterAction you are holding in your hand is the thirteenth to hit the streets. Or at least to collect in an impres- sive slab on our members’ shelves. The quality of the journal continues to be high, with a range of features including inter- views, research and book reviews as well as papers and case studies.

Mark McKergow , Kirsten Dierolf , Anton Stellamans & Carey Glass Editorial Volume 8 Issue 1 Extending the mind, extending SF practice As InterAction enters its eighth year of publication, we are delighted to welcome members of ASFiO, the new Association for Solution Focus in Organisations. ASFiO members will be receiving the InterAction journal as part of their membership package, and we are delighted to both have you as readers and invite you to consider contributing to future issues.

John Brooker & Annie Bordeleau We connect, interact and grow with Solution Focus practitioners globally, so that together we spread, nurture and sustain the seeds of Solution Focus within organisations. This 2024 edition of the InterAction Collection is taking you along on a journey, offering a sustainable view of innovative practices, insightful research, and compelling stories that inspire the solution-focused evolution. As our world navigates through tumultuous times, the significance of creating solutions rather than focusing on problems has never been more apparent. This year’s collection shines light on how we, as a community, are learning about sustainability, about how to support each other in times of difficulty and many more fascinating features that can inspire our practice.

John Brooker, Carey Glass and Annie Bordeleau Continue Learning with us It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to Volume 15 of the InterAction Collection. Together we grow and develop our Solution Focus practice working with organisations. This Collection brings you the latest thinking on solution focus in organisations. It includes Case Studies, Applications (including tools), conversations with experienced practitioners and book reviews. Each feature might be an audio, a video or written material or a combination of these.

John Brooker, Carey Glass and Annie Bordeleau Learn with us We are delighted to welcome you to Volume 14 of the InterAction Collection. We intend the Collection to help you develop as a Solution Focus practitioner working inside or with organisations. This Collection brings you the latest practice and thinking on solution focus in organisations and materials from the past that are still valid today. As well, you will occasionally find materials from other fields of SF, where these may help you develop as an organisational practitioner.