There were many times during the writing of this book when it felt like we were wrestling with a filthy pig.
Writing it has been a process of problem solving in itself. Over the course of numerous drafts and total rewrites, we’ve experimented with different ways of conveying the spirit of problem cleaning in a format that is both accessible and enjoyable. We hope we’ve gone some way towards achieving this end, but we leave it to you, the reader, to be the judge of that.
For their support in getting us to here, we’d like to extend special thanks to a number of key individuals.
Firstly, to our families and friends. Without your support we wouldn’t even be considering writing something of this nature, never mind actually being able to achieve it.
Thank you to Georgie, Matilda, and Eliza—you three are truly the centre of my [PL’s] world. I know there have been plenty of times when I’ve brought pigs home and left trotter prints through our hallway. Thanks for your ongoing belief and support throughout this project. I promise that we’ll try to not take quite so long on the next one!
Thanks to Sarah, Harry, and Max for being a constant inspiration to me [MB], and for keeping me out of the pig pen. I hope that at some point in your lives, the thinking and ideas in this book will help you when you find yourself stuck. If that happens then all of this will have been worthwhile. Finally, thanks to Pink Floyd for their genius and introducing me to the perils of ‘flying pigs’.
We’d also like to thank the numerous people who have shaped our thinking over the years, either in person or through their writing. The list is far too long to include everyone, but special thanks must go to the following people, whose contributions were most valuable in crafting this framework:
Gregory Bateson for his mind, his writings, and his thinking around the cybernetic explanation of behaviour.
Milton Erickson for his pioneering work in brief approaches to therapy.
Bill O’Hanlon for his ability to convey his thinking around possibilities in accessible language.
Dr. James Wilk for his expertise and writings around change and shifting contexts.
Ludwig Wittgenstein for his seminal work on philosophy, language games, and how we bewitch ourselves.
Steve de Shazer for his pioneering approach to solution focussed approaches.
Spencer Johnson for his demonstration of how to use a simple fable and metaphor to convey practically applicable principles to the reader.
We owe an immense amount to our editor, Sara Starbuck. Without your talent, your passion, and your patience, never have crafted this story. Your creativity and humour throughout the process of developing this fable have been greatly appreciated and valued.
A huge debt is also owed to a valued colleague and dear friend of ours, Dr Tim Pitt. Tim, your ‘passionate curiosity’ and ‘confident humility’ has got us both out of the pig pen numerous times as we tried to wrestle with the principles underpinning this book.
Finally, we’d like to thank a gentleman by the name of Dave Hewitt. Thank you for introducing us to characters such as Arthur and Eric. Their charm and the problems they faced in the farmyard helped us greatly in getting us to this point. Without your support at a critical juncture, this book may never have arrived in its present form.