Solution-Focused Scaling Questions

© 2009, Coert Visser

Steve De Shazer, an American therapist and co-developer of the solution-focused approach, once, in the nineteen-seventies, talked with a client who came for his second session. He asked the client what was better now. The client had spontaneously replied: “I’ve almost reached 10 already!” De Shazer began to play with the idea of using numbers to describe one’s situation. This started the development of the scaling question used in solution-focused therapy (Malinen, 2001). Today, scaling questions have developed into the most well known and most frequently used solution-focused techniques. Scaling questions are relatively easy to use and extremely versatile. Nowadays, many therapists, coaches and managers use them. Even many people who know little about the solution-focused approach know the scaling question.

1. Basic steps when using the scaling question
Asking the scaling question is usually done by following a few basic steps. These basic steps consist of a series of questions which are posed in a curious and encouraging way. Below, these basic steps are explained.

The following picture (Visser, 2009) visualizes all of these steps:

2. Different types of scales
There are many ways of using scaling questions. Below are the most frequent uses of the scaling question.

1. The success scale: this is the most well-known application of the scale. On this scale 10 is the desired situation and 0 is the situation in which nothing has been accomplished yet. The success to which this scale refers can be about anything that you may find relevant such as communicating more effectively, dealing more effective with problems, producing more efficiently, working more client oriented, etcetera.

2. The motivation scale: this scale is used to discuss and strengthen the motivation the client's motivation. On this scale, the 10 may be something like: “I am prepared to do a lot to achieve the goal", and 0 may be: “I am not willing to do anything for it". It may seem a bit paradoxical but by going through the basis steps of the scaling question clients often get more grip on their own motivation. They learn to regulate their own motivation and become capable of motivating themselves. When their motivation would be low they could do things that had helped them in the past to become more motivated.

3. The confidence scale: this scale is used to discuss and strengthen the client's confidence of being able to reach the desired situation. A 10 may be: “I have much confidence of being able to accomplish this” and a 0 may be: “I have no confidence whatsoever.” Just like with the motivation scale the client learns to regulate his own confidence. This can have a strong stimulating effect. When a client has little confidence that he will be able to accomplish something it makes no sense for him to take action. Once his confidence grows the threshold is lowered to take action.

4. The independence scale: an important principle in solution-focused work is that we want to keep clients from becoming dependent on coaches. The independence scale can help to establish that. This scale is used to discuss and strengthen the clients self sufficiency. A 10 may be: “I know how I can proceed with this and I don't need help anymore” and a 0 may be: “I don't know how to proceed with this and I need help." The independence scale is often used in situation in which the client has some kind of decision problem. The advantage of this scale is that it helps to keep coachings and therapies from taking longer than strictly necessary. While the problem may not be completely solved this does not have to mean that the professional help has to continue. Often, the client is able to continue independently.

3. Using scales in groups
Scaling questions are not only useful in one-on-one conversation but also in groups. Below are two examples of the use of scales in groups.

1. Group scaling question: Below is a fragment from a team session between a solution-focused team coach (TC) and a team. The coach is asked to coach the team members (TM) a few times in order to help improve team cooperation. He uses the scaling question.

• TC: I would like to ask you whether your team, as far as you're concerned, is already exactly like you want it to be?
• All: (Laughter) No!
• TC: (Smiling) No problem! It would be the very first time for me to be in a team where everything was exactly like everyone wanted. Okay, I would like to explore where the team already is. Imagine a scale from 0 to 10 with 10 being the situation in which things will have become like you would like them and 0 being the situation in which nothing is going like you want it to go yet. Would you write down on the little post it notes where you think the team is now on that scale?

The team members write down their score on the scale and pass them on to the team coach. The team coach asks them to take a few minutes and talk with the person sitting next to them about a recent situation in the team that went well. In the meantime the team coach calculates the average score. After a few minutes the team coach starts talking again.

• TC: Thanks for your scores. I have calculated that the current score of the team is a 6. So things are not quite like you want them to be but you seem to be well on your way to that situation. How did you manage to reach that 6?
• TM 1: …. It is not that we don't work for it, you know? I mean you only have to look at they way we are all sitting here and seriously participating in this process.
• TC: Indeed, I notice that. What else has helped to reach that 6?
• TM 2: We have all reached a point at which we want to leave the problems of the past behind us and to start looking forward, you know?
• TC: that sound good, what else?
• TM 3: When it really comes down to it we take care of doing a good job as a team.

The team coach goes on asking for more examples for about ten minutes and then asks a different kind of question.

• TC: The team is now at a 6 .. Imagine that the next time we meet the team will be at a 7. What would be different in the team then?
• TM 2: We would listen better to one another. When someone says something in the team meeting he can really explain what he wants to say and he is taken seriously.
• TC: Fine, and what else?
• TM 4: We would be on time for the meeting. All of us would be on time.
• TC: I can imagine that would be good thing. What else?
• TM 1: We support each other better when we see that a colleague is really busy. We help each other out better.

The conversation continues. For an hour the coach asks all kinds of things using the scale. For example, he asks for examples of situations in which the team has already been a bit higher on the scale. Near the end of the session, he invites each team member to think for them selves about what they can do to help the team move one small step forward on the scale. When the session is over the atmosphere is positive. The team members have found the session useful and pleasant.

2. Scale walking: This is an application of the scale which you can use in small and large groups. You ask the members of the group to imagine that one side of the room represents 0 on the scale and the other side 10. Then you ask them to think what their current position is and you tell them that this current position is represented by the letter N. Then, you invite them to come and stand on an imaginary line (somewhere halfway on the scale) and you tell them to imagine that this position is N, their current position. Then, you ask them to think about how they have been able to go from 0 to N. Next, you ask them to turn around and face the other side of the room, where 10 is. You ask them to think about what they see as they watch that part of the scale. Then, you invite them to come and stand on the 10 position and to visualize for themselves what will be different here and what they will do differently themselves. After that, the group members are asked to come and stand at their current position again and to think about which small step forward they could take. You ask them to physically take a step as soon as they know which step they will take.

Scale walking has some attractive features when working with a group. The exercise is often very lively and usually creates lots of energy and enthusiasm. Also, the exercise is very flexible. You can use it in many different types of situations. For instance, you can use it when members have individual goals. But you can also use it when there is a common them so that the scale represents a group goal (for instance 'improve customer satisfaction'). In this case, using the scale leads to a situation in which all members think about steps forward to achieving that goal.

4. Several tips for using scaling questions

4.1 What to do when the client is now at a 0?
When using scales, clients will usually say that their current position on the scale is somewhere between 0 and 10. But every now and then it happens that clients say they are now at a 0. In this case it is obvious that you can not ask them how they have been able to go from 0 to their current position because their current position is a 0. Well, what can you do in such a situation? 0 is. When a client says he is now at 0 he often wants you to understand how serious his situation is. The solution-focused coach shows understanding and acknowledges what the client says. Then, the coping question can be asked, for example like this: “How do you manage to go on in these tough circumstances?" The coping question often helps people to find new energy to cope with their difficult situation. Often, this also helps to create a new angle to continue the conversation. For instance, when the client says: “I manage to go on because I don't want to disappoint my children, the coach can build on that by asking: "How would you know your children would not have to be disappointed?”

4.2 The importance of effective scale anchors
When using scales it is important to define your scale anchors, in particular the 10-position, carefully. Scales usually work best when the 10-position is defined not in too idealistic terms (the ideal future) but rather in more realistic terms (the desired situation, the situation you would be satisfied with). Being idealistic in your definition of the 10-position has two disadvantages. The first is that you can be sure that an ideal situation will never be achieved. Problem free, ideal situations don't happen. There are always problems, challenges, and tensions, they belong to life. A second disadvantage of the 10 as ideal is that it will make the client scale the current situation lower. When the 10 represents an ideal situation the client may score the current situation as a 2, while he may score a 4 or a 5 when the 10 would be defined as the situation that would be good enough. A too idealistic 10 can demotivate.

Another aspect of choosing effective scale anchors is shown in the following example. Imagine a client wants to loose 50 pounds of weight and is helped by a solution-focused coach. When the coach would define the 10 position as the situation in which the client would have achieved the goal and would have lost the 50 pounds that could demotivate. The reason is that you could be quite sure that it would be impossible to get at the 10-position anytime soon. It would be wiser to use a different way of defining 10, for instance like this: the situation in which you would be satisfied about your eating behaviors. By defining the scale like this, it is possible for the client to move quickly to the 10-position on the scale which can be very motivating. The actual weight loss can of course be monitored on a different scale, the one in your bathroom.

4.3 Playing with scales
Often it is possible and necessary to be inventive and playful when using scales if only because clients often do that too. In a team building session, a coach once used the scale walking technique. The exercise went fine and the coach noticed how the energy in the group grew while they proceeded. At a certain point, the coach invited the members to think about which step forward they could take on the scale. He asked them to physically take a step when they knew what step it was. The team members thought for a moment and then, one after the other, took a step forward. One person thought longer than the others and eventually took a step backward instead of forward. The coach was surprised for a moment and wondered if the participant was joking. But then, the coach became curious and asked: “Hey, that is interesting... You're taking a step backward... Would you care to explain that?" The participant responded with a serious look on his face: “I am very perfectionist and by taking a step backward I want to symbolize that I am going to let things loose a bit more.” The coach responded: “Sounds good!”

5. Using scales with multiple goals
Sometimes people wonder about whether scaling questions aren't too simple to be used in complex real life situations. In complex real life situations there is often a situation when there multiple goals instead of only on goal (like improving commercial skills). Moreover, often these goals are interrelated in one way or the other, or they maybe be competing with each other. An example may be the case of a company in which one group advocated the use of proactive environmental practices. For instance, they objected to the abundant use of plastic covers around certain products. Another group in this company objected to this groups saying that the focus of the company should be achieving financial goals. The tension between these two groups grew to rather unpleasant proportions when members of both groups started accusing each other of all kinds of bad intentions and behaviors. A solution-focused coach was hired to solve this matter. To everyone's surprise, the parties were again on speaking terms within one session and fully cooperating with in two brief sessions. What happened?

The first thing the coach did was to listen carefully to both parties trying to understand their goals. After that, the coach suggested a framework in which the relationship between both goals was visualized (see below).

Then, he asked them what they considered the most desired position in this matrix. They immediately agreed that C was the preferred place to be. Then, the solution-focused coach drew a scale which looked like scale on the picture on the right. Next, he asked the group whether this scale represented their goals adequately, to which all of them could agree. Then he asked then to consider this scale and discuss with each other where they saw themselves now on this scale. Then he used all the familiar parts of the scaling questions. A bit to their own surprise the group members started to agree more and more and discovered that there were some very interesting opportunities to improve both environmental and financial performance at once. For instance, they indeed started to use less plastic covers which was not only desirable from an environmental standpoint but also lowered direct costs and production time. One member called these 'low hanging fruits'. What is interesting is that, in the second session, the group became more united. The financial people showed increasing enthusiasm for the environmental goal and vice versa.

Invitation
I invite you to try out the scaling question in a conversation or team meeting. Do let me know how it went.

References

• Malinen, T. (2001). From Thinktank to New Therapy: The Process of Solution-Focused Theory and Practice Development. Ratkes 2, 2001 & Ratkes 3.
• Visser, C.F. (2009). Doen wat werkt. Oplossingsgericht werken, coachen en managen. Van Duuren Management, 2e druk.
  

Realistic career guidance

Adopting solution-focused views and tools

© 2004, Coert Visser & Kirsten Dierolf

As coaches and career counselors, we have developed a way of career counseling we have found to be more realistic, more effective, and more fun. One inspiration is the work of INSEAD professor Herminia Ibarra, whose findings on career development collide well with our own experiences and preferences. Another very important inspiration has been the solution-focused approach, an approach to consultancy we have been using for several years now and which was originally developed by therapists Insoo Kim Berg and Steve de Shazer and their co-workers. We have experienced that this approach is highly applicable in career guidance, too, which was recently confirmed by a thesis written by Barbara Steiner (2004). In this article, we would like to explain how. We hope this will provide you with some useful new views and tools. This article is built up around four statements.

1. Careers are voyages of discovery

It is more realistic to view a career development as a voyage of discovery or a journey into the unknown than as planning your route with a predestined route map. Adopting this more open and dynamic view on careers helps to treat career guidance as a process of both discovery and choice. In this process you constantly take small steps forward and find out what suits you and how to proceed. Professor Ibarra has done extensive research on how effective career change takes place. She found that it is more realistic and effective to act your way into a new career than to think yourself into one. In other words, instead of putting a strong emphasis on analysis and understanding, she argues that it is wiser to emphasize taking small steps to find out which environments, tasks, and roles suit you well. Professor Ibarra’s views seem to concur well with our solution-focused perspective. In her own words:

“The central point is to act more than you reflect. Do not spend a lot of time introspecting; start acting as soon as you can. It’s not that introspecting isn’t helpful, but people use that as an excuse not to try things out and you can stay paralyzed for a long time. I’ve seen people spend a year doing self-assessment or going to coaches and not trying anything.”

2. Leading the client from behind works best

In our experience, ‘leading the client from behind’ works best. We leave decisions on the content and the directions of the process to the client and fully respect the way he or she views his or her situation. Instead of pushing him or her to conform to a predesigned process, we stand behind the client and open up new perspectives and possibilities by asking questions. Our questions are designed to help the client focus on discovering what he or she wants to achieve and aid the client in finding the resources to get there. In order to be successful, it is best to work within the framework of the client, therefore we try to use the language of the client as much as possible and hardly ever introduce new concepts or theories. A great advantage of this leading from behind approach is that it keeps the client from becoming dependent of the coach. Of course, there is no one best way to help people. Each client and each coach has his or her specific requirements in this sense and forcing generic views or prescriptions upon clients, we have often found to be fruitless.

3. A strengths focus is more effective than a deficit focus

Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton (2001) claim that to excel in your chosen field and to find lasting satisfaction in doing so, you primarily need to know and understand your strengths. It’s really common sense: people won’t hire you primarily for your weaknesses – why would they?- but for your strengths. So the career guidance should aim at identifying strengths and at finding out which particular organizations and jobs specifically need these strengths. Some ideas for how to identify strengths can be found here.

Jonathan came for career advice saying his situation was rather urgent. He had been working at a large public transportation company for several years. He had started as a management trainee and, after that he held several management jobs. At a certain point, he became restless. He was approaching his fourties and thought he had to try something different in his career. He had been doing his current job for about four years then and had been rather successful. In fact, a large organizational change project he had led had been successfully implemented. Now, he had run into an executive searcher who asked him to become managing director of a small consultancy firm. It seemed a good challenge and promised to be the kind of change he had been looking for. He decided to take the challenge and had now been in his new job for about three months. When he came to see us, he had discovered he really hated the job! He hated working in such a commercial environment and was bored with the fact that his role did not require him to do much more than to take care of business. He was sure he needed to get out and find something new. And he asked of us: ”Please help me find a job of which I won’t, again, say after a few months, that it doesn’t fit me. We helped Jonathan identify his strengths by analyzing his situations of high performance and Jonathan was able to find out some real strengths and affinities. In the meantime, he found a job as a coordinator in calamity suppression. In this management job, he can use his organizational skills, he really has a chance to manage, and he does not have to work commercially but instead his work helps to deliver an important public service.

4. Solutions Focus tools are a great supplement

We have found that the tools and attitudes of the Solutions Focus approach are a great addition to the traditional toolkit of the career counselor (like using questionnaires, teaching networking skills etc.). In fact, we now mainly rely on these tools when coaching people in their career, and we can fully integrate the solutions focus and the traditional tools. For example, we use questionnaires that are entirely solution-focused or we help the client evaluate his or her application interviews in a solution-focused manner. As main solution-focused tools we would like to mention:

Scales. The coach asks the coachee to imagine a scale from 0 to 10. The 10 stands for the situation in which the coachee has fully achieved his or her goals; the 0 stands for the situation in which the problem happens at its worst. The coach asks the coachee where s/he is now on that scale and what this point at the scales means to him/her. Next, the coach asks the client what the situation would look like when he or she is on the next step of the scale. The focus is on taking small steps forward. Step-by-step progress is made. Small steps are generally less risky, require only minimal effort but their effects can be large because they often unexpectedly start off a chain of positive events. Scaling can be applied to lots of things, we mostly use them as:

1. Scale of progress: to visualize and keep the focus on progress toward the goal of the career guidance
2. Scale of motivation: to find out which context is necessary to keep up the motivation of achieving that goal
3. Scale of confidence: to find out what will make the client confident that he or she is able to achieve that goal.

Coping questions: clients in a career guidance process sometimes are emotional about the situation they’re in. For instance, when they are in an outplacement process because their job has been eliminated or when they are confused about what they want to do with their lives. A basic skill of the career counselor or coach is to help clients deal with their situation and the emotions that can be triggered by it. Here coping questions have proven very helpful. This is a “standard” example of a coping question: “Considering what you are going through, how do you manage to keep on going?” The effect of this question usually is that people start becoming more aware of reasons to go on and be strong and find resources to do so.

Miracle question (and variations on this). The miracle question asks the client to describe in detail how his situation would be if a miracle had happened in the night and the problems he now faces had been solved without his noticing at night. Inviting the client to visualize what exactly his or her life would look like, once a solution has been found often helps people find out what’s important to them, provides new hope to a better future, and starts a positive chain reaction.

Positive exceptions: this tool uses the fact that problems are not continuously present, that there are always exceptions to the problem, situations in which the problem is not happening, or to a lesser extent than usual. Positive exceptions can be used to help the client identify strengths, but also to identify tasks, contexts, and roles that really suited him or her well.

Conclusion: 5 advantages

We have found that adopting these views and methods have drastically improved our career guidance work and made it more fun, too. As most important advantages, we would like to mention the following: First, as coaches we have become better, we produce better results for our clients. Second, we usually achieve this faster. Third, our clients become less dependent on the coach and seem more committed to the results and that makes them stick better. Fourth, we help client develop their confidence. And fifth, the quality of the working relationships with clients has improved.

References:

1. Buckingham, M. & Clifton, D. (2001). Now, discover your strengths. Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
2. Creelman, D. (2004). Interview: Herminia Ibarra On Changing Career, Changing Identity. www.hr.com.
3. Dierolf, K. & Visser, C. (2004). Realistische Karriereberatung. Lernende Organisation. Institut für systemisches Coaching und Training
4. Ibarra, H. (2003). Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career. Harvard Business School Press
5. Steiner, B. (2004). Die eigenen Stärken erkennen und daran glauben, ist der beste Weg zum Erfolg ... oder über lösungs- und ressourcenorientiertes Coaching im Outplacmentprozess“. Master's thesis (in press).
6. Visser, C. & Thissen, M. (2002). Effective managers pay attention to strengths. www.hr.com.
   

The POWERS of the Solution Focus

An Effective Approach to Individual and Organizational Development

© 2003, Coert Visser and Gwenda Schlundt Bodien

In an earlier article we outlined a highly effective approach to coaching, the solution focus. We use this approach not only in management coaching but also in organizational consultancy and training. It is highly simple, respectful and effective. This article is not intended to replace some of the fine books there are about solution-focused consultancy (see below). Instead, we have searched for a very simple and brief description of the solution focus that is accessible and easy to remember. We came up with acronym POWERS, which stands for:


P - problems are acknowledged but NOT analyzed
O - outcomes desired are specified
W - where are you now on the scale?
E - exceptions to the problem are keys to solutions
R - relationships are enhanced and made productive
S - small steps forward leads to larger change

Below we explain the POWERS acronym letter by letter.

P - problems are acknowledged, not analyzed
Problems are an important starting point in the solution-focused approach. Sometimes people think that solution-focused working is a positive change approach (true!) and should therefore not pay attention to problems (not true!). Acknowledging problems is important. Paying attention to what is bothering you provides motivation to change your situation and is therefore useful. But the way attention is paid to the problem is crucial. With the solution focus attention is paid to what the problem is and how it is bothering you. But that is as far as it goes. There is no further analysis or diagnosis aimed at finding the causes of the problem. Why not? Because, in complex systems (like organizations) it is generally impossible to find THE cause. Instead, you will find more and more causes. This is because in organizations most problems are created by the interactions between many people. Solutions are often not directly linked to the causes of the problems. Knowing the causes of a problem doesn’t necessarily mean that you will also find a solution that works.

So, acknowledging problems is key, searching for causes is not. By the way, the word problem as we use it, does not necessarily refer to the presence of a bad thing (for instance an unfriendly colleague) but can just as well refer to the absence of a good thing (for instance an unfulfilled aspiration).

If someone seems really overwhelmed by the problem s/he has, a solution-focused consultant/coach, while acknowledging the seriousness of the situation, can help the client by normalizing the situation. For instance by saying: “We see this problem a lot in our work”. Also he might say something like: “Wow, despite this serious situation you seem to manage quite well!”

O - outcomes desired are specified
Once you have established what the problem is you ask what your client would like to have instead. It is important to notice that an objective is not simply the absence of the problem. For instance, if an employee is dissatisfied with his job, ask him what he would like to do instead. The desired outcomes are specified in behavioral terms. As a coach or consultant you can help specifying the objectives by asking questions like: “What will be different when the problem is solved?” And: “How will you behave when you have achieved you goal?”

A technique often employed by SF consultants is the so-called miracle question. The client is asked to describe in detail how the situation would be if a miracle had happened and the current problems had been solved. Inviting the client to visualize his/her life when the problem no longer exists has a surprisingly strong effect. It gives hope to a better future and starts a positive chain reaction.

W - where are you now on the scale?Solution focused consultants work a lot with scales from 0 (the problem at its worst) to 10 (the objectives are completely realized). The client is asked where s/he is now on that scale. Attention is paid to what has brought the client to that point on the scale. If the position on the scale is a 5, the consultant might respond: “A five? That’s great. What makes it a five?” This helps the client discover what solutions s/he has used to get from 0 to 5. If the client places himself very low on the scale (for instance at 2) the consultant might ask: “How come it is not a 0?” And even if the client says the position is a 0 a scale is still helpful. A good response might be: “How do you manage to go on? What keeps you going, even when your problem is at its worst?”

Scaling is extremely helpful. It helps clients to rediscover what resources they already possess. Scaling helps the client to view the glass as half full instead of half empty.

E - exceptions to the problem are keys to solutions
A key insight of the solution-focused approach is that NO problem is present all of the time. There are always exceptions to the problem. And these exceptions are the key to finding solutions to the problem. An example: when two colleagues have a bad working relationship, you look for positive exceptions to this problem. You might ask: “When was the working relationship between the two better, or at least less problematic?” then you focus on that positive exception examining what behaviors and circumstances caused this situation to be (a bit) better. Then you try to recreate parts of that exception situation.

R - relationships are enhanced and made productive
Problems are created and defined in a social context and so are solutions. Solution focused coaches, consultants and trainers do the following things that help improve relationships from the very beginning. First, they fully respect the client’s way of looking at their situation (also if they see things differently themselves). Second, they let themselves be led by what their clients want to achieve. These two principles lead to a quick establishment of a trusting relationship between client and consultant. On top of that solutions are explored in a relational context by asking questions like: “How would your colleague notice from your behavior that the problem would be solved?” or: “What would be possible if the conflict between the two of you was resolved? How could your attitude towards the other person be different in that case?”

S - small steps forward leads to larger change
An important part of the solution focus is to take small steps forward instead of taking large steps. Why is that? There are several reasons. First, it is often much easier to find the motivation to take a small step than to take a big step. Aiming for a big step too often results in doing nothing at all. Second, small steps can often bring about larger change. Compare this to throwing a small stone in a pond, the ripples may get quite far. Another famous and extreme example of the power of small steps is the famous butterfly effect from chaos theory: a butterfly in Brazil flapping its wings may cause the weather in Texas to change.

Small steps work best and the more stuck a situation seems to be, the more small steps seem to be advised.

Exercise: the scaling walkA great exercise with scaling is the so-called scaling walk, which we learned from Paul Z. Jackson. This exercise can be done individually but also with groups, small and large (we have done this exercise with groups up to 70 people). This is how it goes:

You ask the members of the group to imagine that one side of the room represents zero, the other side 10. Then you ask hem to think of our current position on the scale as N and you ask all to come and stand at position N. Next, you ask them to look back at the 1 position and ask them what they see and what has brought you to position N. Then you ask them to turn around and look at position 10 and ask them how this feels. From there you invite them to come and stand at position 10 and ask them to visualize how this would be and what would be possible when they would stand here. Next, they step back to their current position N and you ask them to imagine one small step forward they we might take. And then you invite them to take this step once they have thought what it was.

Conclusion and invitation
Our experience is that the solution focus works exceptionally well. POWERS is a simple way to introduce people to it. It is by no means a fixed model. The solution focus defies this kind of standardization. If you want to experiment with it, use it any way you like. Feel free to skip any letters and to change the order of the letters.

We invite you to try it. If you do, please let us know your experiences!

Solution-focused Coaching: Simply Effective

© 2002, Coert Visser & Gwenda Schlundt Bodien

John is a 35-year-old project manager who was offered external coaching. John performed generally well but was said to communicate rather bluntly. The goal of the coaching was to help John improve his communication skills, to communicate more tactful and aware. John and his coach tried to find situations in which john had already done this. Together, they explored these situations and identified which behaviors of John helped to make his communication more effective. Doing this they identified some things that worked really well (taking some time before responding, asking other peoples help, etc.). In the following few weeks John started to apply these solutions consciously. It worked fine. John even applied his new skills in applying for a new job within his organization. He got the job.

Nowadays many managers and employees are assiduously looking for ways to lessen their problems or to increase their work pleasure. The market for external coaching is extensive and growing. Maybe you have considered coaching yourself too. What would you pay attention to when looking for a coach? What form of coaching would suit you? What qualifications should your coach have? An experienced person from your own field of expertise? A person with extensive industry familiarity? An experienced ex-manager? A psychologist? A psychologist with management-experience? A psychotherapist? A neuro-linguistic programmer? Someone of whom you can tell that s/he is a well-balanced person? Someone of whom you know s/he has overcome the very problems you are struggling with? A New Age coach? An enneagram specialist? A healer? A paragnost? An astrologer? You have lots of options if you want a coach......

Solution- focused coaching

Although there seem to be rather too many than too few types of coaches available we want to bring a new kind of coaching under your attention: solution-focused coaching. The reason for this is that this way of working enables coaching’s to be brief, effective and respectful. Originally from the world of therapy, solution-focused coaching is now gaining popularity in the world of work rapidly. The basic assumption of solution-focused coaching is that for each coachee specific individualized solutions for problems work best and that any person is competent to solve his or her own problems. These solutions emerge by asking useful questions by the coach. How does this work? We would like to start with a description of two things that usually do not happen in solution-focused coaching: analysing problem causes and prescribing generic solutions.

No problem analysis and diagnosis

The solution focused approach finds it more useful to focus attention directly on building solutions for problems than on analyzing causes of problems and making a diagnosis. Although diagnosing problems often works with technical and medical problems, it hardly ever works with problems in organizations. Focusing on what’s wrong usually drains people’s energy, makes them feel guilty and distracts them from focusing on their goals.

No theory-based generic solutions

Another thing a solution-focused coach hardly ever does is using theories and expert knowledge. As a rule, the coach does not present generic theory-based solutions. A core assumption of solution-focused coaching is that what works best is to help the coachee find solutions that fit his or her unique circumstances. This inductive way of working leads to individualized solutions that are really owned by the coachee.

Doing what works!

But what is this solution-focus then, you might wonder. In essence it comes down to:

1. Acknowledging problems: first of all acknowledge the problem you might have. In what sense is it a problem? How does it bother you?
2. Defining your preferred future: specify how you would like things to be
3. Identifying solutions: identify what helps you make progress in that desired direction (find out what works)
4. Amplifying solutions: if something works, do MORE of it
5. If you notice something does not work, stop doing it and do something ELSE

Tools of the solution-focused coach
Some specific tools are often used to enable the process of solution building.

1. The miracle question: defining the preferred future
An important tool of the solution-focused coach is the so-called miracle question. This question asks the coachee to described detailedly how his situation would be if a miracle had happened and the problems he now faces had been solved. Inviting the client to visualize his life when the problem no longer exists has a surprisingly strong effect. It gives hope to a better future and starts a positive chain reaction.

2. Positive exceptions: the key to finding solutions
The interesting thing with problems is that they are not continuously present. For instance, imagine a project manager who often misses deadlines. There will have been occasions when he has met (a) deadline(s). There are always exceptions to the problem, situations in which the problem is not happening, or to a lesser extent than usually. These positive exceptions usually form the key to solving the problem. What behavior and circumstances make the problem disappear (or partly disappear) in those instances? An example: if a employee finds it hard to keep working due to stress, we don’t focus on what he no longer can do but on what he still can do and how he does it and how he has managed to cope effectively with stress in the past.

Scales: visualizing progress

The coach asks the coachee to imagine a scale from 0 to 10. The 10 stands for the situation in which the coachee has fully achieved his goals; the 0 stands for the situation in which the problem happens at its worst. The coach asks the coachee where s/he is now on that scale and what this point at the scales means to him/her. Next, the coach asks the client what the situation would look like on the next step of the scale. The focus is on visualizing things being a little better. Step by step progress is being made. Taking small steps is essential. Small steps require only minimal effort but their effects can be large because they often unexpectedly start off a chain of positive events.

Compliments: pointers of resources

A solution-focused coach frequently compliments the coachee, both directly and indirectly. A direct compliment might be: `I think you handled that fantastically!` An example of an indirect compliment is: ´how did you manage to accomplish such a difficult task?´ Indirect compliments are as it were invitations to the client to compliment himself on what he has achieved, knowing this will help the client to be even more successful in dealing with the problem. Compliments are pointers of resources and solutions. They are intended to point to the fact that the coachee has handled a challenging situation well and they help coach and coachee to explore such as situation further. Thus they help the coachee identify what works.

Respect and collaboration

Solution-focused coaching is highly respectful and collaborative. The coachee directs the process. The coachee´s perspective, beliefs and goals are fully respected and acknowledged in the coaching process. The coach doesn’t try to change the client but uses the beliefs and goals that the client views as helpful. The approach is non-confrontational and non-judgmental. The coach is really curious and interested in the in the solutions of the coachee and truly not-knowing what is best for some one else. When a coachee is no longer communicating cooperatively, the coach does not see this as resistance to change. Rather, he uses this as a signal that his interventions are in some way ineffective and that he must adjust to the coachee´s perspective again.

Brief; not a primary goal, but a nice side-effect

Solution-focused coaching can often be brief. One reason for this is that the coaching is very much focused on achieving specific goals. A second reason is that most clients pick up this simple (but not easy) way of dealing with problems quite fast. Having dealt with one problem, lots of clients are able to deal with other problems by approaching them the same way. Solution focused-coaching is gaining popularity rapidly and for a good reason: it works!