SOLVED solution focused leadership and coaching Mike Cardus

Recently someone asked me what theories or concepts are the foundations of my work. This made me think, and slightly concerned. I do not enjoy being too deeply enamored with an organization development, leadership, or team development theory because that may blind me to other and better ideas that I have not yet discovered, and we all have foundational biases.

Three influential concepts that frame how we make progress:
  1. Experiential Learning  _ the work of David Kolb
  2. Requisite Organization _ the work of Elliott Jaques
  3. Solution-Focused _ the work of Steve de Shazer

On the solution-focused area, I developed a product called SOLVED a solution-focused coaching process

What is SOLVED

SOLVED is a solution finding process.

  • Understand the situation
  • Move out of your siloed thinking through observation feedback
  • Know your current level of progress
  • Identify what is working to validate your success
  • FInd your exceptions
  • Decide your direction

The solution-focused coaching kit contains 24 questions, each about an area of SOLVED, plus a how-to coach and find-solutions guide based on research and evidence of what-works to support the progress of leaders and teams.

While the questions and the process are fun, it is the interaction between you and the team or leader that constructs the solutions that make a difference.

The SOLVED process is a way for progress, and you are the person who makes progress.

I randomly chose 6 SOLVED questions, use the next 30-mins and respond to the questions.

  1. S – Describe what you want to have happen?
  2. O – How do you describe this challenge to a close colleague or friend?
  3. L – Where are you on a scale of 2 – 10, with 10 being you know exactly what to do, and 2 being the opposite? How do you know this?
  4. V – What have you accomplished that makes you proud?
  5. E – The solution is water, and this challenge is the pipe water flows through. Describe the path of least resistance.
  6. D – Someone else in the room knows the answer, and they cannot directly tell you. How will they support you in discovering the solution?

After you have responded to the questions, make time in 7-days to revisit what you want to happen, and write down –

  1. What is better this week?
  2. What happened that you would like more often?
  3. How did you and others support that progress?

problem solving kit

 

Interested in learning more about the SOLVED solution-finding process?