On reading ‘Reinventing Organisations’,  by Frederik Laloux, (available on Amazon), it struck me how ‘reinvented’ organisations could use Solution Focus to help achieve each breakthrough that Laloux describes:
1. Self-management (or 'self-organisation' in this session)
2. Wholeness
3. Evolutionary purpose

By coincidence, after I read the book, Tomas Horak contacted myself and my colleague Annie Bordeleau to ask how SFiO might enable an experiment on establishing self-organising teams. The result was the session you hear in this audio with a summary below. 

As Tomas says with honesty in the session, “we have no idea how this experiment will turn out”. That said, he encourages participants to use their creativity and sense for exploration to gather ideas for the self-organisation journey; and they do!

Tomas and Christophe kicked off with “finding attendees’ best hopes for this co-creation experiment and the difference that would make”. You can find the output of this and other sessions in the video in a PDF of slides on the SFiO website (www.sfio.org) in the Library/ InterAction Collection 2021. I summarise some of the findings below:
The three sessions
Session 1 - First ideas on how to start a journey towards self-organising
Groups considered what might be their first steps to creating self-organising teams. Recurring themes from different groups were:
the need to have organisations define what:
•	‘Self-organising’ means to them
•	The purpose for them of self-organising 
•	The roles in a self-organising team
•	As well, organisations should:
•	Look for signs of self-organisation happening in the organisation
•	Develop psychological safety for people to self-organise
 
Session 2 – Bring Solution Focus into play
As you will notice from the Session 1 output, people already had an SF perspective in Sessions 1, and Session 2 encouraged people to consider how they might use SF more.  
What becomes clear is that the SF approach and questions are perfect to have teams think through what they want to achieve in terms of self-organising and how they can achieve it. The groups’ output confirms this with some additional questions that arise:
•	How does the group change when it needs new or different skills?
•	How will the different backgrounds and cultures of teams contribute to self-organisation?
•	How to best define the roles?
•	How to keep energy high?
•	Should a ‘consultant’ be an expert in self-organising teams or simply facilitate groups to find their way to self-organise?
•	How not to ‘force’ self-organisation?
•	How to use Host Leadership to introduce self-organisation

Session 3 - Focusing on the first step  
Pick out the most important first step and explain how you would start a journey towards self-organisation
The groups were very practical here with ideas such as:
•	Create space for self-organisation
•	Have a coaching conversation with the customer
•	Use a simple exercise to show signs of self-organisation
•	Share emotions and how to best work together
•	Discuss signs of trust in the team - people may distrust the leader’s motives
•	Focus on the resources in the group and how they might use them to self-organise
•	Use Host Leadership 

Plenary - A chance to reflect
Tomas opened the session up to attendees to reflect on the conversations they had. Reflections are:
•	Self-organisation needs time - therefore, leaders need to temper their desire for results
•	The process for effecting self-organisation is the same for any change in the organisation
•	SF practitioners make the process of change effective and efficient by focusing on what we want
•	Until people know and trust each other and feel included, our task is about community building before discussing what we are going to do together
•	Metaphors for self-organisation are a flock of birds or shoals of fish and (based on these principles) swarming drones.

How Can Solution Focus Shape Self - Organisation

“Dreamwork is what makes the teamwork,” says Anton Stellamans in his marvellous welcome to the 2025 SOLWorld Conference in Mechelen.

It began two years ago in Vienna, when the organisers first dreamt of what SOLWorld 2025 could be. Their dreams took shape, and what dreams they were, in a gathering full of warmth, insight and inspiration.

SFiO is delighted to share Anton’s warm introduction in InterAction.

Whether you were part of the magic in Mechelen or not, we invite you to watch or listen in. You’ll experience the heartfelt rituals, the rich sense of continuity, the thoughtful inclusivity, and the sheer delight that marked the start of the conference. It’s a masterclass in setting the tone for “good company”.

If you were there, let it spark fond memories. If you missed it, here’s your chance to catch the spirit. You can see all SOLWorld 2025 features in the 2025 collection: https://www.sfio.org/interaction-collection/

With heartfelt thanks to our SFiO Financial Contributors—your support made this filming and editing possible. Click on the green button on the website if you would like to ensure recordngs of future conferences.
Annie Bordeleau and John Brooker

Introduction to SOLWorld 2025

Soundcloud features our audio features on Solution Focus in organisations, from The InterAction Collection. We are an international community of Solution Focus practitioners who continue learning and developing the SF approach in organisations.

How Can Solution Focus Shape Self - Organisation

SFiO - Solution Focus in Organisations

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