Tag Archives: work

Successful Failures?

Dear reader,

Yesterday was my first visit to the RSA (Royal Society of Arts) event at the RSA house in the heart of the City of London. Which is a shame really, since I’ve been here on/off for about 3 months already.

Not being used to professional networking and code of behaviour or conduct, but always open for new possibilities, relationships and opportunities, I had mixed feelings of excitement and some nervousness as well. However, being someone that is hardly present and certainly not known, I thought nobody would notice my presence or be interested in what I do or who I am. And that gave me the courage to let go of the nervousness and leave space for curiosity only.

I couldn’t be more wrong. I guess the difference between Slovenian and the UK working culture is not only in the way how we approach and adopt new ideas, but also in the way how we connect and relate to other people, especially how we establish new relationships. Just for a short illustration (and please bear in mind that this is my experience only and is not necessarily a ‘general truth’): when I was younger and had volunteered for the faculty where I studied, I often had experiences such as when proposing new ideas, I would get five arguments and ways why this idea wouldn’t work out and a list of at least five things what could go wrong on the way. I thought this is the way things are done, so adjusted myself in order to be able to function in such an environment. While when I first moved to England, about three years ago, I had a different experience. When I did pluck up my courage to finally dare to propose something, I got a response which surprised me so much, that I think this was one of the first reasons why I fell in love with this country in the first place. I would immediately get at least five ways of suggestions what else I might do, as well as be offered support and useful contacts of people that might be of help. This was accompanied by an attitude of genuine interest and respect. Not something I was used to very much.

So I would let go of my old beliefs and start behaving, working in and seeking for the environment where my ideas were supported. My life changed since then (have a look at the older blog posts if interested how).

The same experience I had three years ago, happened yesterday. I was so wrong for thinking I would not be noticed. At the very beginning, the lady who was hosting the eveng announced this meeting is a special meeting as there are two Fellows from the overseas. And I was so blushing while raising my hand to show who I was yet still I thought people wouldn’t really notice. Wrong again. In the gaps between different project pitches where we were mingling, I couldn’t even get to the second glass of wine as so many people approached and expressed interest. So I met some wonderful skilled, talented and dedicated people and thanks to A., I was introduced to many other Fellows with whom we will possibly work on making the positive difference in our society.

The point of this post was that it is NOT normal or natural to be working in so called ‘problem focused’ environments. Failure is no shame and absolutely not a setback. It is a lesson, learning and a sign of moving. And new ideas should be encouraged, even though we might encounter trouble on the go (which great ideas don’t???) and even though there will probably be moderate or high risks.

In the RSA meeting there was a terrific pitch about failure, as a precondition of a big success. And in order to make that possible, we need successful failures. We of course might not recognize them as such at that moment, however looking back, we might actually be proud and happy to have failed at something, because that opened doors to something else. Something spectacular, possibly

I know I’ve had many failures. Now I also know that many of them have been quite successful failures!

Biba

img_0048

For the SuccessfulFailure project visit Twitter @TSFIntervierws

May I Present to You …

A Certified Solution Focused Practitioner! I recently came back from England and brought an important paper in my pocket. My first part of solution focused training is behind me and I’m now officially fully qualified to pursue Solution Focused Practice.

The difference for me is rather minor, but it makes huge difference when I present my work and qualification to others. Clients usually don’t mind as well, they are more interested in the outcomes. However other practitioners of all kinds are VERY interested. And I think this is a good sign, they should be, because it does matter where you’ve been trained, by whom, how long and what the structure of your training was. You don’t want to be coached by someone who has only pursued a brief training on a weekend seminar, do you?

So for you dear fellow workers, who are in the helping professions and others who are interested, here’s what my training so far looked like:

Prior to entering the Solution Focused training, I was already engaged in working with students. Counselling and help has been offered through the university tutor system and I was the head of tutors for students with disabilities. I’ve been doing it for 8 years and have been granted two faculty awards for my work.

As I’ve told you in a past post, a miracle has happened and SF found me. My training at BRIEF (London, United Kingdom) has lasted from March 2014 until April 2015. Though I haven’t been in London the whole time, meanwhile I’ve participated in European Brief Therapy Association Conference 2014 in the Netherlands, Solution Focused Brief Therapy Association of America’s 2014 conference and additional training (not included in my primary training at BRIEF) and SOL CEE Conference 2015 in Hungary. And I was at home, working with my clients.

In total, so far I’ve experienced more than 150 hours of intensive training in Solution Focused Practice, about 30 hours of supervision and more than 120 hours with clients (only individual clients are included in the number, not the workshops). I’ve been really lucky to be trained or coached by the world’s famous Solution Focused Therapists and Coaches: Chris Iveson (my number one consultant and supervisor), Harvey Ratner, Evan George, dr. Peter De Jong, dr. Heather Fiske, dr. Harry Korman, dr. Janet Beavin Bavelas, Katalin Hankovszky Christiansen, Marco Matera, dr. Susanne Burgstaller, Hannes Couvreur and have sought consultation and guidance from dr. John Wheeler, dr. Mark Beyebach, Randa Fent, dr. Alasdair J. MacDonald, dr. Lance Taylor and Anne-Marie Wulf. I’m omitting the official titles other than PhD’s, because there are so many and I will probably make a mistake listing all of it. And because they made a difference to my life as people, not as doctors and specialists. What’s consisted a huge amount of my professional development was the EBTA, SFBTA and SOL World Community’s support. I had constant access to resources and immediate feedback from Solution Focused Practitioners whenever I needed one. My work has been recognized as meaningful, so the communities have enabled me to participate in training and conference in the US and in Hungary. I cannot find the right gratitude words to express what difference this has made to my professional standing, so I didn’t say it in words, but have showed it in action by opening the Ribalon Institute. All the above named and unnamed people have contributed to it.

What is coming next, is another year of extensive training for a Solution Focused Therapist and attendance in other Solution Focused events that currently I can’t tell how many will be. Anyhow, I believe I’ll be learning for life and in the end, my best teachers will be my clients. If things continue this way, you’ll be able to read about it as it happens.

It has been a long and arduous time and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.

So my dear readers, proudly to present a marvellous journey that has escalated in a certificate paper. In case you’d ask.

porridge

Good and lasting results don’t come overnight. It takes time to be able to perform and produce something meaningful. Like a good porridge for example.