Solution Focus approach<\/strong> favours setting aside information about what makes things so difficult and instead shining a light on what makes them easier: the strengths and resources that help the client achieve what they want.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSolution Focus Method<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Solution Focus approach has its roots in the therapeutic field. It has since been applied in a wide range of other contexts, including education, social welfare, prisons and probation services, and, more recently, organisations. Solution Focus is part of a broader development that includes strengths-based positive psychology, positive deviance, and Appreciative Inquiry\u2014all part of a new wave of change methodologies seeking more direct routes to progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are usually taught to view a present problem situation along a straight line connecting the origins of the problem with the present and an unwanted future. We call this the problem axis. The theory is that the problem has complex roots in the past and that, if things continue unchecked, it will lead to disastrous consequences in the future. A great deal of time and intellectual energy is devoted both to analysing the problem and to imagining how terrible the future might become. Diagnosing the problem and investigating its causes are seen as essential parts of addressing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People who use the Solution Focus<\/strong> approach in their work operate along a different axis: the solution axis. <\/strong>They are interested in what the client wants, rather than what they do not want, and in what is already happening that is moving them in the desired direction. They use their analytical skills to explore a preferred future,<\/strong> sometimes called the Perfect Future, to gather and examine examples of that future already happening, and to direct attention towards the abilities and resources needed to achieve it.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIncreasing Awareness Through Solution Focus<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
CSolution Focus coaches shine their metaphorical torches on:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u2022 What the client truly wants
\u2022 The resources available to the client<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To illuminate these areas, the coach asks for concrete descriptions of the Perfect Future, explores signs that are already visible, and invites the client to describe them in detail. We ask questions that presuppose competence and resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What the client truly wants<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Coaches who work with the Solution Focus approach invite their clients to imagine themselves far ahead, in the ideal world they can envision\u2014a future in which the problem they are facing has disappeared, as if by magic. They ask them to describe this ideal world in detail. \u201cWhat would be the first thing you noticed that showed you a transformation had taken place?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They ask for clear, concrete signs rather than hidden processes such as motivation or feelings. The coach then invites detailed descriptions from different perspectives, for example: \u201cWhat would your manager, colleague, or client notice?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Resources Available to the Client<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Once a full description of the Perfect Future has been developed, attention turns towards examples and patterns showing that this future is already happening, even if only to a very small extent. As a coach, you might use scaling questions<\/strong>: \u201cOn a scale from 0 to 10, where 10 represents the Perfect Future you have just described and 0 means that nothing at all is happening, where would you say you are now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nAlmost everyone gives an answer somewhere between 0 and 10. Whatever the answer, it contains two important pieces of information: that something is already happening and moving the client in the desired direction, and that there is still some distance to travel. The coach listens very carefully to what the client says, using the metaphorical torch to identify abilities, resources, coping mechanisms, and strategies that support progress. The questions asked presuppose competence, as described below, and each question builds on the client\u2019s previous response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Affirmation is one of the key tools in the Solution Focus<\/strong> approach and is used frequently. It is always specific and directed towards the abilities and resources that have been identified: \u201cI am very impressed by the way you planned this project.\u201d \u201cYou were able to recognise the opportunity and make use of it.\u201d \u201cI admire the way you motivated your colleagues while doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe have noticed that when people feel stuck in a difficult situation, it is often because they feel overwhelmed by how much needs to be done. For this reason, Solution Focus practitioners encourage clients to take small steps, perhaps even as experiments, that move them one point or a fraction of a point further up the scale and help things begin to shift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat could you do or say in tomorrow\u2019s meeting that would take you one step closer to having the ideal relationship with John? How would your colleagues know that the situation was improving?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Questions That Presuppose Competence and Resources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Let us examine a question that is typical of the Solution Focus<\/strong> approach – one that might be asked at the beginning of a coaching engagement:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cOf all the things you are currently doing in meetings, which would you say you are most pleased with?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cOf all the things\u201d acknowledges the complexity of the client\u2019s activities in these meetings and the fact that many things are happening at the same time. \u201cMost\u201d implies that there are several aspects the client is pleased with. Notice how different the question feels without the word \u201cmost\u201d. \u201cPleased with\u201d is not the same as \u201cbest\u201d; it carries a lighter tone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As an opening question<\/strong>, this type of wording serves several purposes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u2022 It offers a gentle way to begin the conversation; conversations that do not start with problems help both parties relax.
\u2022 It gives the coach information about what the client enjoys most in their work.
\u2022 It tells the coach something about what motivates and energises the client.
\u2022 It provides some initial clues about the client\u2019s abilities and resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coaches who use the Solution Focus<\/strong> approach ask many presuppositional questions that imply competence and resources. Solution-focused questions can be contrasted with questions from the problem axis, which concentrate on difficulties and offer little hope. A few examples are provided below:<\/p>\n\n\n