Solution-Focused – executive, management and team coaching is all about pragmatic applications.
In preparation for a kick-off meeting, beginning almost 24 months of work, with a new organization I used the SOLVED method to determine how to make the meeting better.
People get into small groups of 3 to 5 and determine what is working well with their team and what they would like to be better in 100 days. Phrasing the activity in ‘present into the future’ allows the team to create solutions and small steps for improvement.
We think that “deep” responses come from “deep” questions, not true. Responses can be at the proper depth that the person answering the question feels is necessary, it has very little to do with the question.
The value in this method is that by focusing on what you want the solution to be as opposed to focusing on the problem, your energy and focus can be put into developing action steps towards the solution. The problem is known and acknowledged AND the solution is found in examining what you know, what resources you have and need in order to solve your problems in your context and in learning how to continually improve.
Acknowledging the problem AND developing a shared understanding of the goal to be achieved. Then working backward to accomplish this goal by carefully and pragmatically searching through the organization, team and / or persons real-life and work experience to identify exceptions of when the solution is already happening or could possibly happen in the future.
What would you do right now if you could do whatever you wanted to?
Because if you don’t know what you would do, if you could do whatever you wanted to. How in the world can you know what you would do under constraints?
What are you already doing that is working well?
It has happened to all of us, someone at work (your manager, coworker, subordinate, peer, vendor, customer, etc…) pisses you off and you go off an angry tirade about how resistant and uncooperative they are.
On and on and on.
While these statements may be true, they are not really useful in creating any solutions and changes to getting your work done.
Instead of creating failure charts, root cause analysis, and using a system of trial and error the simplest way is to start at the cheese and follow the path back to the mouse. By identifying the solution first, What we want to have happen, an easier solution can be found.
Developing steps to identify what you want to happen, as opposed to what you don’t want to happen can seem to simple. And, if we begin to identify what we want to have happen, using language that describes the solution – a different use of the language is created within teams.