“焦点解决”在咨询和管理领域延伸的概念

——一种积极差异的理论

高德明团队 译编

“焦点解决模式”由史蒂夫·德·沙泽尔、茵素·金·伯格和其密尔沃基短程治疗中心的同事一起创立。这个概念，最开始被称为“短程咨询”，现在已广泛应用于我们的社会，并在咨询与管理领域得到传播。自2002年在布鲁斯托尔首次举行“焦点解决在企业组织中的应用”会议后，便掀起了全球范围内整合和讨论的浪潮。例如，现在有许多出版商开始出版各种关于企业组织的实践项目（如Aoki 2005, Berg/Szabo 2005, McKergow/Clarke 2005, Jackson/McKergow 2002, Furman 2004）。起初，主要关注教练和团队建设（ Maier 2005, Sharry 2004），但是现在，焦点解决模式已在更多管理领域得到应用，诸如HRM、市场销售、项目管理等等。

当然，这种发展趋势与企业与日俱增需要解决的问题有关。焦点解决取向管理的关注点是问题和解决之间的差异，而这种差异或许使得企业和员工一样忙碌。另外，短程咨询的潜在有效性也吸引了企业决策者的兴趣，因为焦点解决项目在编制评估表中的投入较少（Clarke/McKergow 2007）。

焦点解决模式对企业具有如此吸引力的原因之一就是，它不仅触及管理的主要问题和内容，而且也与企业和员工个人成功有关。这种商业实践的巨大潜力和管理研究的存在，可以解答以下所有问题：

- 什么能够确保企业、团队及个人的成功和持续？是如何做到的？

- 怎么样才能够发现企业组织的优势和资源，以及核心竞争力？

- 做些什么能够使企业更有效地发生多方面变化？

- 在资源日益减少的时期，企业应该怎样衡量以至于能够简单且有效地脱离困境？

- 最后且最重要的一个问题是：怎么样才能更简单地找到解决方法？

在我们看来，只是讨论焦点解决模式并不足以找到这些方法。当然，这些问题也会在其他管理和咨询概念中讨论，或许也能够找到一些解答。但是，焦点解决模式提供了不同的和新异的回答，特别是结合了个人核心素质提供新的品质。第一次实证研究就已经证明了其存在的积极的经济效应（本书“研究”一章有专门介绍）。

一种积极差异的理论

企业中的焦点解决应用包括许多原则、方法和工具。如奇迹提问、例外提问、目标设定等技术，简单实用，且已在商业实践中被证实其有效性。这些方法多数来自治疗领域，这也正是焦点解决模式能够在其他类似场景（教练和咨询）中被广泛推广和传播的原因。这种方法还聚焦于提问技术（亦被称为“解决晤谈”），而这些提问是根据咨询场景而设计。若没有得到进一步发展，这些方法在经典管理领域和员工中的应用就会受到限制，因为每天的工作任务并不会涉及如此多的提问，但另外一些工作如入职信息、动机激发、未来目标制定、理念发展等等，会用到这些工具。

正因如此，一种基于焦点解决模式的理念框架就能够促进其在组织管理和企业其他领域的应用。

这个框架概述如下：

- 从现存原则、技术和态度中建立一种理论模式；

- 在此基础上，完成对焦点解决管理理论的梳理概览；

- 简要呈现来自不同管理职能部门的案例，并从较少涉及的应用领域开始实践，如动机激发、信息传递、市场营销等。

当我们关注于把聚焦积极差异的概念作为一种连接模式时，这个“积极差异理论”的术语表述的正是其字面意思。

——高德明焦点解决高效教练督导团队译编

附：原文　

Solution-Focused Management: Towards a Theory of Positive Differences

Aconcept spreads in the world of consulting and management.

The“solution-focused approach” was developed by Steve de Shazer, Insoo Kim Bergand their colleagues at the BFTC in Milwaukee. This concept, also originally known as "brief consulting", has now entered wide reaches of oursociety and is currently spreading through the areas of consulting and management. Since the first world conference on “Solution-Focused Practice in Organizations” 2002 in Bristol (organized by the Bristol Group), there has been a world-wide integration and discussion process. For instance, a large number of publications referring to a rich variety of application projects for enterprises can now be observed (see e.g. Aoki 2005, Berg/Szabo 2005,McKergow/Clarke 2005, Jackson/McKergow 2002, Furman 2004). Originally these ideas mainly concerned coaching and team development issues (see Maier 2005,Sharry 2004), but now solution-focused work is clearly spreading into broader areas of management, such as HRM, Marketing, Project Management, and many more(see the contributions to this volume).

This extended reach is possibly connected with the increase in problem-solving pressure on enterprises. The focus of solution-focused management is on the difference between problem and solution, and this difference arguably keep senterprises and employees equally busy. In addition, the efficiency potential of brief consulting is also interesting for decision makers in enterprises, assolution-focused projects involve much less effort in developing designmeasures (see Clarke/McKergow 2007).

One of the reasons the solution-focused approach is so attractive for enterprisesis the fact that it touches upon central questions and aspects of management as well as the success of an enterprise and its staff. This enormous potential for business practice and management research exists, as the following questionscan be answered:

-What can safeguard the success and the survival of enterprises, teams and individual employees and how is it done?

-How can strengths and resources, and thus core competencies, be found and optimized throughout the enterprise?

-What can be done to design the manifold changes in an enterprise more efficiently?

-How can, in times of dwindling resources, measures in enterprises be worked outsimply and more efficiently?

-And last but not least: How can solutions be found more simple?

In my opinion, these opportunities have not been made explicit enough in the discussion of solution-focused work. Of course, these questions are also discussed in other management and consulting concepts and some answers can befound. Solution- focused work, however, offers different and new answers and especially a new quality by combining the individual core elements. First empirical studies already show positive economic effects (see the chapter on“Research” in this volume).

Towards a Theory of Positive Differences

Solution-focused work in enterprises today comprises a broad range of principles, methods andinstruments. Techniques such as miracle question, exceptions, well formed goals, simplicity and many more are available and have successfully been tested in business practice. Most of these approaches were originally developed intherapy, which is the reason why solution-focused work has been most widely spread in similar settings (coaching and consulting). Another reason for this is that the approach concentrates on questioning techniques (it is nocoincidence the seminal volume by Peter de Jong and Insoo Kim Berg is called"Interviewing for solutions”）or is concerned with questions regarding the design of consulting settings. Without further development, the use in classic management areas and with employees would be limited, as many tasks in every-day work involve not so much question techniques, but other activities, such as entering information, motivating, following objectives, developing concepts, using tools etc.

For this reason, a conceptual framework of solution-focused work is helpful that can facilitate the application for other tasks in management and enterprise.

This framework will now be outlined by:

-Developing a theoretically founded pattern from the already existing principles, techniques and attitudes

-Formulating a sketch for a theory of solution-focused management on this basis

-And briefly presenting, by means of examples taken from different functional areas of management, new starting points for less discussed areas of application, such as motivation, information transfer, marketing etc.

As we concentrate on the concept of focusing positive differences as the linking pattern, the term “theory of positive differences” suggests itself.

学习、练习、实践、反思、督导，是一个SF取向工作者的快速成长之路。敬请期待下期分享。