In 2001, half a dozen people met in a pub in the UK and agreed to invite people with an interest in using the Solution Focus approach in organisations to come to a conference. From this SOLWorld emerged and, without any formal existence, it developed into a strong community with 8 international conferences, events in Europe, North America and Asia, web sites, NING groups, lively discussion groups and international collaboration in various projects to its credit.

We are very clear that SOLWorld and SFCT are different kinds of organisations doing different things. For more details on the distinctions between SFCT and SOLWorld click here.

The field is growing as the number of books and articles shows and there are SF practitioners all over the world. On a wider stage, other progress-focused and strength-based approaches are also growing in popularity with consultants and coaches and their clients. SF has a place on this wider stage - AND it has unique qualities and assumptions that distinguish it from its near neighbours.

The Association for the Quality Development of SF Consulting & Training (SFCT) has been set up both to establish the place of SF on the wider stage and to draw attention to its distinctive qualities. In doing so, we hope to give a coherent voice to SF practitioners working in organisational settings and to be a focal point for developments in the field.
The SFCT is a membership association with a board, statutes, a bank account and mailing address. In short, the SFCT is a legal entity (registered in Germany). We see several advantages to this:

• It positions SF as a distinctive field and gives a concerted voice to SF practitioners working in organisational settings.
• Its existence as an entity makes it possible for experts from other fields or approaches who are interested in SF to make contact.
• Funds enable the organisation to provide services to members. Services include the website, the Journal, peer review and, in due course, credible research into the practice of SF in organisational contexts.
• It can provide visible continuity in quality development, gaining a reputation and thereby enhancing the reputation of its members, especially those who have earned its quality stamps.
• Its members adhere to a code of ethics when they join. There is a complaints process should they infringe on it, giving added confidence to their clients.
• German association law ensures that the SFCT adheres to democratic standards. The board, working on a voluntary basis, is elected by the membership and they are accountable to the membership. A general meeting determines the direction of the association. Here are the statutes in German and here are the statutes in English.

We are well aware of the challenge in attempting to describe SF adequately and to assess it. Steve de Shazer refused to do it. However, in order to raise its profile, we need to be able to say something about what "it" is. The founding members have thought long and hard about this, and we think that the Clues and the idea of reviewing "Pieces of work" rather than assessing practitioners give a pragmatic and useful way forward.