Liberating Structures

Microstructures & Design Elements

We are well aware that structures such as buildings and organizational policies and operating
processes support and constrain our activities. We tend to be much less conscious of smaller
structures that influence our interactions with other people. In contrast to more tangible
macrostructures, we call them microstructures.

You have no choice. Every time you have a conversation or a meeting you are using
microstructures.

The five most commonly used microstructures are presentations, open discussions, managed
discussions, status reports, and brainstorming sessions.

Consciously or not, microstructures are the way you organize all your routine interactions.
They guide and control how groups work together. They shape your conversations and
meetings.

Microstructures enable and constrain what is possible.

Often, the familiar microstructures become frozen in routine and, in the process, become
invisible. Operating on autopilot, we use the same microstructures over and over and easily
loose sight of their role and influence. Their importance becomes immediately apparent when
we start using a greater variety of microstructures like Liberating Structures. It forces us to be
much clearer on our purpose in order to decide which one or which combination to use.

One simple way to become more mindful of microstructures is to identify their constituent
elements.

Five elements define the underlying design of all microstructures—conventional or

liberating. We call them design elements because you can make choices about them based on
what you want to accomplish. The five design elements for a conventional presentation or
lecture are illustrated below:

1. a structuring invitation (listen to me);

2. how the space is arranged and what materials are needed (rows or U facing
presenter, screen, projector and PPT slides);
3. how participation is distributed (nearly 100% of total time for presenter);
4. how groups are configured (one group, one presenter); and,
5. a sequence of steps and time allocation (presentation for most of time; possibly
Q&A for balance of time).
Liberating Structures are designed with variations on these five structural elements. The
elements are the minimum specifications (Min Specs) or essential foundation required to
generate results with each Liberating Structure. Understanding this foundation helps you
prepare when leading and facilitating with LS.

The five design elements of a microstructure

Microstructures introduce tiny shifts in how we meet, plan, decide and relate to each other.

LS can be chosen and implemented regardless of personal style, emotional intelligence, or

charisma. In contrast to the typical story about leadership requiring a set of personal qualities
that people are born with or need to develop through extensive training, you can use
microstructures successfully if you are introverted and don't like to make eye contact.

Below is an example using the design of 1-2-4-All. When you are clear about each of the
elements, using a Liberating Structure feels effortless.

1-2-4-All is designed to generate and sift many ideas from group members in rapid cycles. It
is an alternative to brainstorming and status reports.

Structuring Invitation

 A question asking for ideas or proposals about an issue (e.g., What opportunities do
YOU see for making progress on this challenge? How would you handle this
situation? What ideas or actions do you recommend?)

How Paricitpation Is Distributed

 Everyone is given an equal time and opportunity to participate

How Groups Are Configured

 Individual
 Pairs
 Groups of four
 Whole group (in this order)

How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Small café tables with 4 chairs per table or groups of 4 chairs with no tables at all
 Notepads to record observations and insights

Sequence and Allocate Time

 [1-2’] Silent self reflection on a shared challenge or issue (framed as a question)

 [2-5’] Generate and share ideas in pairs
 [2-5’] Share ideas from pairs in foursomes
 [5’] Each group shares one important idea with all and meanings/conclusions are
recorded

In contrast to 1-2-4-All, the design elements of a presentation are illustrated below.

Key differences between Liberating Structures and conventional microstructures include:

 The Presentation puts maximum control of content in the hands of one person and
has no structure to include/engage others.

 The Status Report is essentially like a series of presentations, putting the control of
content into the hands of one person at a time and with no structure to include/engage
others.

 The Managed Discussion puts into the hands of one person the control for
including/engaging a small number of participants.

 The Brainstorm provides a structure to include/engage a few people in expressing

their ideas without constraints.
 The Open Discussion has no control of content and no structure to include
everybody.

Liberating Structures make it possible to include everybody regardless of group size and
distribute the control of content among all participants.
Liberating Structures and Conventional Microstructures Differences in Control and Structure

Key attributes of liberating microstructures. So tiny and modular they play very well with
other approaches.
Menu of 33 Liberating Structures:
We want fewer possibilities that are more interesting!

Complexity science insights inspired the design of specific Liberating Structures and the
repertoire as a whole.

It is possible to overlook the power of Liberating Structures by focusing only on the

individual methods or microstructures. They function as an interrelated set inspired by ten
liberating principles. When we decide we belong together and will shape the future together,
LS principles guide our behavior.
 1. 1-2-4-All
Engage Everyone Simultaneously in Generating Questions, Ideas, and Suggestions (12 min.)

What is made possible? You can immediately include everyone regardless of how large the
group is. You can generate better ideas and more of them faster than ever before. You can tap
the know-how and imagination that is distributed widely in places not known in advance.
Open, generative conversation unfolds. Ideas and solutions are sifted in rapid fashion. Most
importantly, participants own the ideas, so follow-up and implementation is simplified. No
buy-in strategies needed! Simple and elegant!

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Ask a question in response to the presentation of an issue, or about a problem to

resolve or a proposal put forward (e.g., What opportunities do YOU see for making
progress on this challenge? How would you handle this situation? What ideas or
actions do you recommend?)

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Unlimited number of groups

 Space for participants to work face-to-face in pairs and foursomes
 Chairs and tables optional
 Paper for participants to record observations and insights

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone in the group is included (often not the facilitator)

 Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Start alone, then in pairs, then foursomes, and finally as a whole group

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Silent self-reflection by individuals on a shared challenge, framed as a question (e.g.,

What opportunities do YOU see for making progress on this challenge? How would
you handle this situation? What ideas or actions do you recommend?) 1 min.
 Generate ideas in pairs, building on ideas from self-reflection. 2 min.
 Share and develop ideas from your pair in foursomes (notice similarities and
differences). 4 min.
  Ask, “What is one idea that stood out in your conversation?” Each group shares one
important idea with all (repeat cycle as needed). 5 min.

WHY? Purposes

 Engage every individual in searching for answers

 Avoid overhelping and the overcontrol-dependency vicious cycle
 Create safe spaces for expression, diminish power differentials
 Express “silent” conversations and expand diversity of inputs
 Enrich quality of observations and insights before expression
 Build naturally toward consensus or shared understanding

Tips and Traps

 Firmly facilitate quiet self-reflection before paired conversations

 Ask everyone to jot down their ideas during the silent reflection
 Use bells for announcing transitions
 Stick to precise timing, do another round if needed
 In a large group during “All,” limit the number of shared ideas to three or four
 In a large group, use a facilitator or harvester to record output not shared
 Invite each group to share one insight but not to repeat insights already shared
 Separate and protect generation of ideas from the whole group discussion
 Defer judgment; make ideas visual; go wild!
 When you hit a plateau, jump to another form of expression (e.g., Improv, sketching,
stories)
 Maintain the rule of one conversation at a time in the whole group
 Do a second round if you did not go deep enough!

Riffs and Variations

 Graphically record insights as they emerge from groups

  Use Post-it notes in Rounds 2 and 3
 Link ideas that emerge to Design Storyboards, Improv Prototyping, Ecocycle
Planning
 Go from groups of 4 to groups of 8 with consensus in mind. Colleague Liz Rykert
calls this Octopus!

Examples

 Use after a speech or presentation, when it is important to get rich feedback

(questions, comments, and ideas), instead of asking the audience, “Any questions?”
 A group of managers used two rounds of 1-2-4-All to redesign their less-than-
stimulating weekly meeting.
 For a spontaneous conversation that starts after the topic of a meeting has been
announced
 For a group that has been convened to address a problem or an innovation opportunity
 For unlocking a discussion that has become dysfunctional or stuck
 In place of a leader “telling” people what to think and do (often unintentionally)
 For a group that tends to be excessively influenced by its leader
 Read Craig Yeatman’s story in Part Three: Stories from the Field about using 1-2-4-
All to help manage a merger decision, “Inclusive High-Stakes Decision Making Made
Easy.”

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless

 2. Impromptu Networking

Rapidly Share Challenges and Expectations, Build New Connections (20 min.)

What is made possible? You can tap a deep well of curiosity and talent by helping a group
focus attention on problems they want to solve. A productive pattern of engagement is
established if used at the beginning of a working session. Loose yet powerful connections are
formed in 20 minutes by asking engaging questions. Everyone contributes to shaping the
work, noticing patterns together, and discovering local solutions.

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Ask, “What big challenge do you bring to this gathering? What do you hope to get
from and give this group or community?”

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Open space without obstructions so participants can stand in pairs and mill about to
find partners

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everybody at once with the same amount of time (no limit on group size)
 Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Pairs
 Invite people to find strangers or colleagues in groups/functions different from their
own

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 In each round, 2 minutes per person to answer the questions. 4-5 min. per round
 Three rounds

WHY? Purposes

 Initiate participation immediately for everyone provided the questions are engaging
 Attract deeper engagement around challenges
 Invite stories to deepen as they are repeated
 Help shy people warm up
 Affirm individual contributions to solutions
  Emphasize the power of loose and new connections
 Suggest that little things can make a big difference

Tips and Traps

 Use one challenge question and one give-and-take question

 Ask questions that invite participants to shape the direction of their work together
 Use Impromptu Networking before you begin meetings and conferences
 Use bells (e.g., tingsha) to help you shift participants from first, to second, to third
rounds
 Ask questions that are open-ended but not too broad
 Invite serious play
 Have three rounds, not one or two
 If you choose to share output, do it carefully and preserve confidentiality

Riffs and Variations

 Play with different questions: What problem are you trying to solve? What challenge
lingers from our last meeting? What hunch are you trying to confirm?
 Taking a group outside a meeting room increases the fun factor
 Link to Social Network Webbing
 Invite participants to make a simple plan to follow up via 15% Solutions
 Make it faster depending on your schedule
 Try a lively variation called Liquid Courage (developed by Jamie Owens - Founder of
More Than An Option, Inc. and Keith McCandless). Invite each person, in their pair,
to finish these open sentences in 1 minute or less: If only…. They make me… I have
to… … that’s just the way it is. If they would ____ then I could ______!

Examples

 For sparking deeper connections on the first day of class, college professors have
asked their students, “Why did you choose to attend this class? What do you want to
learn from and offer to members of this class?”
 For jump-starting a cross-functional, interdisciplinary learning session, Tim Jaasko-
Fisher used Impromptu Networking with judges, lawyers, clerks, and social workers.
See “Fixing a Broken Child Welfare System” in Part Three: Stories from the Field.
 For connecting far-flung innovators and disparate prototypes among members of the
Innovation Learning Network. See “Inventing Future Health-Care Practice” in Part
Three: Stories from the Field.

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Inspired by June Holley, network weaver.
 3. Nine Whys

Make the Purpose of Your Work Together Clear (20 min.)

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks
and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. Antoine de
Saint-Exupery

What is made possible? With breathtaking simplicity, you can rapidly clarify for individuals
and a group what is essentially important in their work. You can quickly reveal when a
compelling purpose is missing in a gathering and avoid moving forward without clarity.
When a group discovers an unambiguous shared purpose, more freedom and more
responsibility are unleashed. You have laid the foundation for spreading and scaling
innovations with fidelity.

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Ask, “What do you do when working on ______ (the subject matter or challenge at
hand)? Please make a short list of activities.” Then ask, “Why is that important to
you?” Keep asking, “Why? Why? Why?” up to nine times or until participants can go
no deeper because they have reached the fundamental purpose for this work.

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Unlimited number of groups

 Chairs for people to sit comfortably face-to-face; no tables or equipment needed.

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone has an equal opportunity to participate and contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 First pairs, then groups of four, then the whole group (2-4-All)

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Each person in a pair is interviewed by his or her partner for 5 minutes. Starting with
“What do you do when working on ____?” the interviewer gently seeks a deeper
answer by repeating the query: “Why is that important to you?” Switch roles after 5
minutes. 10 min.
 Each pair shares the experience and insights with another pair in a foursome. 5 min.
  Invite the whole group to reflect by asking, “How do our purposes influence the next
steps we take?” 5 min.

He who has a “why” can endure any “how.” Friedrich Nietzsche

WHY? Purposes

 Discover what is truly important for the group members

 Lay the groundwork for the design that will be employed
 Ignite organizational momentum through the stories that emerge
 Generating a small number of clear answers can help you move forward together with
more velocity
 Provide a basis for progressive evaluation
 Generate criteria for deciding who will be included

Tips and Traps

 Create a safe and welcoming space; avoid judgments

 Have fun with it: you can invite participants "to channel their inner toddler" while they
ask why repeatedly
 Keep going! Dig deep with compassion. Vary the ways of asking “why?” For
example, ask, “If last night, while you slept, your dream came true, what would be
different?”
 Make sure the question asked is, “Why is it important to YOU?” (meaning not THE
amorphous organization or system but you personally)
 Share the variety of responses and reflect on differences among group members. What
common purpose emerges?
 If someone gets stuck ask, “Does a story come to mind?”
 Maintain confidentiality when very personal stories are shared
 Make clarifying purpose with Nine Whys a routine practice in your group
Riffs and Variations

 Combine a short Appreciative Interview with Nine Whys. Start with the interview,
then ask: "why is the success story you have shared important to you? Why, Why,
Why?"
 Ask the small groups whether “a fundamental justification for committing time and
money to the work” emerged in the conversation. A clear personal purpose plus a
community justification can quickly fuel the spread of an initiative. Work toward a
single sentence that powerfully justifies the group’s work to others: “We exist to…! or
We exist to stop...!”
 In a business context, ask, “Why would people spend their money with you? Why
would leaders want you to operate your business in their country?”
 Add 10 how questions after you have clarity around why (it becomes MUCH easier).
 A good purpose is never closed. Make it dynamically imcomplete by inviting
everyone to make contributions and mutually shape understanding of the deepest need
for your work.
 Record answers on Post-it notes, number them, and stick on a flip chart. You can
arrange the answers in a triangle: broad answers on the top and detailed answers on the
bottom. Compare and debrief.
 Ask, “Why is that important to your community?” “Why? Why? Why?…”
 Use the chat function during a webinar to start formulating a purpose statement:
participants reflect on the Nine Whys questions, sharing their ideas in the chat box.
 Link to Purpose-To-Practice; Generative Relationships; Wise Crowds; What, So
What, Now What? and many other Liberating Structures.

Examples

 For crafting a compelling shared purpose to launch a collaborative research

organization. The Quality Commons, a health-service research network composed of
representatives from seven health systems across the United States, used Nine Whys
as one step in the Purpose-To-Practice Liberating Structure.
 For the beginning of any coaching session, including Troika Consulting or Wise
Crowds.
 For clarifying the purpose behind the launch of a new product.
 For anchoring each element of a Design Storyboard by asking, “Why is this activity or
element important to you? What does it add to the flow of exchanges among
participants?”
 For you as an individual to clarify your personal purpose

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Inspired by Geoff Bellman, author and consultant.

Collateral Materials

Below: Presentation materials we use to introduce Nine Whys

 “Why”
questions are at the base because they dig for the essence of or deepest need for your
activities. Generating a small number of clear answers can help you move forward together
with more velocity.
 4. Wicked Questions

Articulate the Paradoxical Challenges That a Group Must Confront to Succeed (25 min.)

How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making
progress. – Niels Bohr

What is made possible? You can spark innovative action while diminishing “yes, but…” and
“either-or” thinking. Wicked Questions engage everyone in sharper strategic thinking by
revealing entangled challenges and possibilities that are not intuitively obvious. They bring to
light paradoxical-yet-complementary forces that are constantly influencing behaviors and that
are particularly important during change efforts. Wicked Questions make it possible to
expose safely the tension between espoused strategies and on-the-ground circumstances and
to discover the valuable strategies that lie deeply hidden in paradoxical waters.

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Ask, “What opposing-yet-complementary strategies do we need to pursue

simultaneously in order to be successful?”

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Groups of 4 to 6 chairs with or without small round tables

 Paper for recording

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone involved in the work or topic is included

 Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Individually
 Small groups (6 people or smaller)
 Whole group

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Introduce the concept of Wicked Questions and paradox. Illustrate with a couple of
examples of Wicked Questions. Give the following template, “How is it that we are
… and we are … simultaneously?” as the sentence to complete by inserting the two
opposite strategies that are at play. 5 min.
  First alone then in small groups, each participant generates pairs of opposites or
paradoxes at play in his or her work using the Wicked Question format. 5 min.
 Each group selects its most impactful and wicked Wicked Question. All selected
Wicked Questions are shared with the whole group. 5 min.
 Whole group picks out the most powerful ones and further refines the Wicked
Questions. 10 min.

WHY? Purposes

 Describe the messy reality of the situation while engaging collective imagination
 Develop innovative strategies to move forward
 Avoid wild or “bipolar” swings in policy and action
 Evaluate decisions: Are we advancing one side or the other or attending to both?
 Ignite creative tension, promoting more freedom and accountability as the discovery
process unfolds

Tips and Traps

 Make sure that participants express both sides of the paradox in an appreciative form:
“How is it that we are ____ and we are ____ simultaneously?” and not in opposition
of each other
 Use a variety of examples to make the paradoxical attributes accessible
 Work in quick cycles, failing forward as you make the questions perfectly wicked
 Avoid nasty questions that appoint blame or are unbalanced on one side. Here is an
example of a nasty question: “How can we focus on our customers when we are forced
to spend more and more time on the headquarters’ bureaucracy?”
 Avoid data questions that can be answered with more analysis
 Invite participants to include others in making their questions more wicked
 Draw on field experience; ask, “When have you noticed these two things to be true at
the same time?”
 There are no quick fixes to Wicked Questions and you may need to return to the
challenge periodically with additional rounds of Wicked Questions
 Often a handful of people are very skilled at generating Wicked Questions: let them
shine and inspire the rest of the group!

Riffs and Variations

 Use Wicked Questions to evaluate and launch Improv Prototyping, Ecocycle, and
25/10 Crowd Sourcing
 When you have a strong Wicked Question, don’t stop there! Follow with 15%
Solutions and 1-2-4-All to generate and sift ideas. Making progress on any one
Wicked Question can shift what is possible.
 Learn more from Brenda Zimmerman in Edgeware and

Examples

 For parenting advice: “How is it that you are raising your children to be very
loyal/attached to the family and very independent individuals simultaneously?”
  For helping leaders discover how to include everyone in stopping infections: “As
infection-control leaders, how is that you have stepped up and stepped back to help a
unit take more ownership of prevention practices?”
 For managing large global operations: “How is that we are always and never the
same… an organization with a singular global identity and we are uniquely adapted to
each local setting? How is it that we are integrated and autonomous?”
 For a functional department, such as HR, finance, legal, etc., to bring to light the
Wicked Questions that capture the essence of the function in the context of the
department’s organization
 For surfacing personal Wicked Questions, for instance, with respect to one’s
relationship to one other person or in connection to a personal challenge. For instance,
“How is it that I am simultaneously dedicated to my work and being fully present for
my family?”

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Inspired by professors Brenda Zimmerman (see Edgeware) and Scott Kelso (see The
Complementary Nature).
 5. Appreciative Interviews (AI)

Discovering and Building on the Root Causes of Success (1 hr.)

What is made possible? In less than one hour, a group of any size can generate the list of
conditions that are essential for its success. You can liberate spontaneous momentum and
insights for positive change from within the organization as “hidden” success stories are
revealed. Positive movement is sparked by the search for what works now and by uncovering
the root causes that make success possible. Groups are energized while sharing their success
stories instead of the usual depressing talk about problems. Stories from the field offer social
proof of local solutions, promising prototypes, and spread innovations while providing data
for recognizing success patterns. You can overcome the tendency of organizations to
underinvest in social supports that generate success while overemphasizing financial support,
time, and technical assistance.

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Ask, “Please tell a story about a time when you worked on a challenge with others and
you are proud of what you accomplished. What is the story and what made the success
possible? Pair up preferably with someone you don’t know well.”

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Unlimited number of groups

 Chairs for people to sit in pairs face-to-face; no tables needed.
 Paper for participants to take notes
 Flip chart to record the stories and assets/conditions

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone is included
 Everyone has equal time and opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 First pairs, then groups of 4.

 Encourage groups to be diverse

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

  Describe the sequence of steps and specify a theme or what kind of story participants
are expected to tell. 3 min.
 In pairs, participants take turns conducting an interview and telling a success story,
paying attention to what made the success possible. 7–10 min. each; 15–20 min. total.
 In groups of 4, each person retells the story of his or her pair partner. Ask participants
to listen for patterns in conditions/assets supporting success and to make note of them.
15 min. for groups of 4.
 Collect insights and patterns for the whole group to see on a flip chart. Summarize if
needed. 10-15 min.
 Ask, “How are we investing in the assets and conditions that foster success?” and
“What opportunities do you see to do more?” Use 1-2-4-All to discuss the questions.
10 min.

WHY? Purposes

 Generate constructive energy by starting on a positive note.

 Capture and spread tacit knowledge about successful field experience.
 Reveal the path for achieving success for an entire group simultaneously
 By expecting positive behaviors, you can bring them forth (Pygmalion effect)
 Spark peer-to-peer learning, mutual respect, and community building.
 Give permission to explore complex or messy challenges
 Create a new exciting group narrative, e.g., “how we are making order out of chaos!”
 Repeating interviews in rapid cycles may point to positively deviant local innovations

Tips and Traps

 Flip malaise and negative themes to “When is it that we have succeeded, even in a
modest way?”
 Start with, “Tell me a story about a time when….”
 Ask people to give a title to their partner’s story
 Invite additional paired interviews before building up to patterns
 Invite participants to notice when they form a judgment (about what is right or wrong)
or an idea about how they can help, then to “let it go”
 Make the stories and patterns visible to everyone
 Learn more from Appreciative Inquiry practitioners at
http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/

Riffs and Variations

 Graphically record story titles and conditions/assets on a large wall tapestry

 Write up and publicize a few of the most inspiring stories
 Draw out stories that help participants make a leap of understanding from a small
example of behavior change to a broad change in values or a shift in resources
allocation--or both! Offer an example.
 Track how the stories start to fill in and bring life to the group’s vision
 Groups of eight instead of four are an option
 Follow with Min Specs, exploring the must dos and must not dos required for future
success
Examples

 For bringing customer focus to life with “stories when you had a creative and positive
interaction with a customer”
 For revising college courses with “stories when a course or learning experience had a
profound influence on your life”
 For repairing a relationship between a patient and a doctor with “stories when you
were able to accept openly responsibility for making a medical error”
 For building trust and morale in an NGO with “stories when you experienced here in
the office the esprit de corps of work in the field. What made that possible?”
 For looking beyond the launch of a transformation initiative with “stories of first
successes in the field that can guide our strategy for the next two years”

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Inspired by and adapted from professor David Cooperrider, Case Western Reserve University,
and consultant Dr. Tony Suchman.

Collateral Material
 6. Making Space with TRIZ

Stop Counterproductive Activities and Behaviors to Make Space for Innovation (35 min.)

Every act of creation is first an act of destruction. – Pablo Picasso

What is made possible? You can clear space for innovation by helping a group let go of what
it knows (but rarely admits) limits its success and by inviting creative destruction. TRIZ
makes it possible to challenge sacred cows safely and encourages heretical thinking. The
question “What must we stop doing to make progress on our deepest purpose?” induces
seriously fun yet very courageous conversations. Since laughter often erupts, issues that are
otherwise taboo get a chance to be aired and confronted. With creative destruction come
opportunities for renewal as local action and innovation rush in to fill the vacuum. Whoosh!

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

In this three-step process, ask:

 1. “Make a list of all you can do to make sure that you achieve the worst result imaginable
with respect to your top strategy or objective.”
 2. “Go down this list item by item and ask yourselves, ‘Is there anything that we are currently
doing that in any way, shape, or form resembles this item?’ Be brutally honest to make a
second list of all your counterproductive activities/programs/procedures.”
 3. “Go through the items on your second list and decide what first steps will help you stop
what you know creates undesirable results?”

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Unlimited number of small groups of 4 to 7 chairs, with or without small tables

 Paper for participants to record

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everybody involved in the work is included

 Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Groups with 4 to 7 participants

 Established teams or mixed groups

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

  After introduction, three segments, 10 minutes for each segment
 Introduce the idea of TRIZ and identify an unwanted result. If needed, have the groups
brainstorm and pick the most unwanted result. 5 min.
 Each group uses 1-2-4-All to make a first list of all it can do to make sure that it achieves this
most unwanted result. 10 min.
 Each group uses 1-2-4-All to make a second list of all that it is currently doing that resembles
items on their first list. 10 min.
 Each group uses 1-2-4-All to determine for each item on its second list what first steps will
help it stop this unwanted activity/program/procedure. 10 min.

WHY? Purposes

 Make it possible to speak the unspeakable and get skeletons out of the closet
 Make space for innovation
 Lay the ground for creative destruction by doing the hard work in a fun way
 TRIZ may be used before or in place of visioning sessions
 Build trust by acting all together to remove barriers

Tips and Traps

 Enter into TRIZ with a spirit of serious fun

 Don’t accept ideas for doing something new or additional: be sure suggestions are about
stopping activities or behaviors, not about starting new things. It is worth the wait.
 Begin with a VERY unwanted result, quickly confirm your suggestion with the group
 Check in with groups that are laughing hard or look confused
 Take time for groups to identify similarities to what they are doing now and explore how this
is harmful
 Include the people that will be involved in stopping the activities that come out and ask,
“Who else needs to be included?”
 Make real decisions about what will be stopped (number your decisions 1,2,3…) in the form
of “I will stop” and “we will stop.”

Riffs and Variations

 Go deeper with a second or third round to refine or deepen understanding of unwanted

results.
 Link these results (creative destruction) to a broad review of activities via Ecocycle Planning.
 Share action steps: then go deeper and string together with Troika Consulting, Wise Crowds,
or Open Space.

Examples

 For reducing harm to patients experiencing safety lapses (e.g., wrong-side surgery, patient
falls, medication errors, iatrogenic infections) with cross-functional groups: “How can we
make sure we always operate on the wrong side?”
 For helping institutional leaders notice how it is they inadvertently exclude diverse voices:
“How can we devise policies and practices that only work for a select few?”
 For IT professionals: “How can we make sure we build an IT system that no one will want to
use?”
  For leadership groups: “How can we make sure we keep doing the same things with the
same people while asking for different results?”

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Inspired by the eponymous Russian engineering approach.

Collateral Material

Below: Presentation materials for introducing TRIZ

 7. 15% Solutions

Discover and Focus on What Each Person Has the Freedom and Resources to Do Now (20
min.)

You cannot cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water. – R. Tagore

What is made possible? You can reveal the actions, however small, that everyone can do
immediately. At a minimum, these will create momentum, and that may make a BIG
difference. 15% Solutions show that there is no reason to wait around, feel powerless, or
fearful. They help people pick it up a level. They get individuals and the group to focus on
what is within their discretion instead of what they cannot change. With a very simple
question, you can flip the conversation to what can be done and find solutions to big problems
that are often distributed widely in places not known in advance. Shifting a few grains of sand
may trigger a landslide and change the whole landscape.

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 In connection with their personal challenge or their group’s challenge, ask, “What is
your 15 percent? Where do you have discretion and freedom to act? What can you do
without more resources or authority?”

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Unlimited number of groups.

 Chairs for people to sit in groups of 2-4; no tables required.

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone is included
 Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 First alone
 Then in pairs or small groups

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 First alone, each person generates his or her own list of 15% Solutions. 5 min.
 Individuals share their ideas with a small group (2 to 4 members). 3 min. per person
and one person at a time
  Group members provide a consultation to one another (asking clarifying questions and
offering advice). 5 to 7 min. per person and one person at a time

WHY? Purposes

 Move away from blockage, negativism, and powerlessness

 Have people discover their individual and collective power
 Reveal bottom-up solutions
 Share actionable ideas and help one another
 Build trust
 Remember unused capacity and resources (15 percent is always there for the taking)
 Reduce waste
 Close the knowing-doing gap

Tips and Traps

 Check each item to assure that it is within the discretion of the individual
 Be ready for BIG things to emerge via the butterfly effect
 Reinventing the wheel is OK
 Each 15% Solution adds to understanding of what is possible
 Clear, common purpose and boundaries will generate coherence among many 15%
Solutions
 Make it a routine to ask for 15% Solutions in meetings (15% Solutions are otherwise
commonly unnoticed and overlooked)
 While introducing the idea, tell a story about a small change made by an individual
that sparked a big result
 Learn more from professor Gareth Morgan, who has popularized the concept at
www.imaginiz.com/index.html under the tab Provocative Ideas

Riffs and Variations

 Natural fit with Troika Consulting, Wise Crowds, Open Space, Helping Heuristics,
and Integrated~Autonomy
 Returning to a group, you can ask, “What have you done with your 15 percent lately?”

Examples

 For any problem-solving or planning activity in which you want individuals to take
initiative
 For inclusion in the conveners report in Open Space sessions
 For any challenge that requires many people to change for success to emerge
 For generating small “chunks” of success that can be combined into a simple
prototype that is easy and cheap to test (low-fidelity prototype)

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Inspired by professor Gareth Morgan.

Collateral Material

Below: Presentation materials for introducing 15% Solutions

 8. Troika Consulting

Get Practical and Imaginative Help from Colleagues Immediately (30 min.)

To listen is very hard, because it asks of us so much interior stability that we no longer need
to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements or declarations. True listeners no
longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, welcome,
to accept. – Henri Nouwen

What is made possible? You can help people gain insight on issues they face and unleash
local wisdom for addressing them. In quick round-robin “consultations,” individuals ask for
help and get advice immediately from two others. Peer-to-peer coaching helps with
discovering everyday solutions, revealing patterns, and refining prototypes. This is a simple
and effective way to extend coaching support for individuals beyond formal reporting
relationships. Troika Consulting is always there for the asking for any individual who wishes
to get help from colleagues or friends.

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite the group to explore the questions “What is your challenge?” and “What kind of
help do you need?”

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Any number of small groups of 3 chairs, knee-to-knee seating preferred. No table!

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 In each round, one participant is the “client,” the others “consultants”

 Everyone has an equal opportunity to receive and give coaching

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Groups of 3
 People with diverse backgrounds and perspectives are most helpful

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Invite participants to reflect on the consulting question (the challenge and the help
needed) they plan to ask when they are the clients. 1 min.
 Groups have first client share his or her question. 1-2 min.
 Consultants ask the client clarifying questions. 1-2 min.
 Client turns around with his or her back facing the consultants
  Together, the consultants generate ideas, suggestions, coaching advice. 4-5 min.
 Client turns around and shares what was most valuable about the experience. 1-2 min.
 Groups switch to next person and repeat steps.

WHY? Purposes

 Refine skills in asking for help

 Learn to formulate problems and challenges clearly
 Refine listening and consulting skills
 Develop ability to work across disciplines and functional silos
 Build trust within a group through mutual support
 Build capacity to self-organize
 Create conditions for unimagined solutions to emerge

Tips and Traps

 Invite participants to form groups with mixed roles/functions

 Suggest that participants critique themselves when they fall into traps (e.g., like
jumping to conclusions)
 Have the participants try to notice the pattern of support offered. The ideal is
to respectfully provoke by telling the client “what you see that you think they do not
see”
 Tell participants to take risks while maintaining empathy
 If the first round yields coaching that is not good enough, do a second round
 Beware that two rounds of 10 minutes per client is more effective than one round of
20 minutes per client.
 Keep the spaces safe: if you share anything, do it judiciously
 Questions that spark self-understanding or self-correction may be more powerful than
advice about what to do
 Tell clients to try and stay focused on self-reflection by asking, “What is happening
here? How am I experiencing what is happening?”
 Make Troika Consulting routine in meetings and conferences

Riffs and Variations

 Meld with 15% Solutions: each client shares a 15% Solution, asking for coaching
 Inviting the client to turn around and sit facing away from his or her consultants once
the question has been shared and clarified deepens curiosity, listening, empathy, and
risk taking for all. The alternative of not turning around is an option.
 Restrict the coaching to generating only questions to clarify the challenge: no advice
giving (aka Q-Storming)
 String together with Helping Heuristics; Heard, Seen, Respected; Nine Whys

Examples

 For the beginning or end of staff meetings

 After a presentation, for giving participants time to formulate and sift next steps
 For students to help one another and to promote peer-to-peer learning
  In the midst of conferences and large-group meetings
 As a self-initiated practice within a group

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Collateral Material

Below: Presentation materials for introducing Troika Consulting

 9. What, So What, Now What? W³

Together, Look Back on Progress to Date and Decide What Adjustments Are Needed (45
min.)

What is made possible? You can help groups reflect on a shared experience in a way that
builds understanding and spurs coordinated action while avoiding unproductive conflict. It is
possible for every voice to be heard while simultaneously sifting for insights and shaping new
direction. Progressing in stages makes this practical—from collecting facts about What
Happened to making sense of these facts with So What and finally to what actions logically
follow with Now What. The shared progression eliminates most of the misunderstandings that
otherwise fuel disagreements about what to do. Voila!

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 After a shared experience, ask, “WHAT? What happened? What did you notice, what facts or
observations stood out?” Then, after all the salient observations have been collected, ask,
“SO WHAT? Why is that important? What patterns or conclusions are emerging? What
hypotheses can you make?” Then, after the sense making is over, ask, “NOW WHAT? What
actions make sense?”

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Unlimited number of groups

 Chairs for people to sit in small groups of 5-7; small tables are optional
 Paper to make lists
 Flip chart may be needed with a large group to collect answers
 Talking object * (optional)

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone is included
 Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute at each table
 Small groups are more likely to give voice to everyone if one person facilitates and keeps
everybody working on one question at a time

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Individuals
 Groups of 5-7
 Whole group
 Groups can be established teams or mixed groups
5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 If needed, describe the sequence of steps and show the Ladder of Inference (see below). If
the group is 10–12 people or smaller, conduct the debrief with the whole group. Otherwise,
break the group into small groups.
 First stage: WHAT? Individuals work 1 min. alone on “What happened? What did you notice,
what facts or observations stood out?” then 2–7 min. in small group. 3–8 min. total.
 Salient facts from small groups are shared with the whole group and collected. 2–3 min.
 If needed, remind participants about what is included in the SO WHAT? question.
 Second stage: SO WHAT? People work 1 min alone on “Why is that important? What
patterns or conclusions are emerging? What hypotheses can I/we make?” then 2–7 min. in
small group. 3–8 min. total.
 Salient patterns, hypotheses, and conclusions from small groups are shared with the whole
group and collected. 2–5 min.
 Third stage: NOW WHAT? Participants work 1 min. alone on “Now what? What actions make
sense?” then 2–7 min. in small group. 3–8 min. total.
 Actions are shared with the whole group, discussed, and collected. Additional insights are
invited. 2–10 min.

WHY? Purposes

 Build shared understanding of how people develop different perspectives, ideas, and
rationales for actions and decisions
 Make sure that learning is generated from shared experiences: no feedback = no learning
 Avoid repeating the same mistakes or dysfunctions over and over
 Avoid arguments about actions based on lack of clarity about facts or their interpretation
 Eliminate the tendency to jump prematurely to action, leaving people behind
 Get all the data and observations out on the table first thing for everyone to start on the
same page
 Honor the history and the novelty of what is unfolding
 Build trust and reduce fear by learning together at each step of a shared experience
 Make sense of complex challenges in a way that unleashes action
 Experience how questions are more powerful than answers because they invite active
exploration

Tips and Traps

 Practice, practice, practice … then What, So What, Now What? will feel like breathing
 Check with small groups to clarify appropriate answers to each question (some groups get
confused about what fits in each category) and share examples of answers with the whole
group if needed
 When sharing with the whole group, collect one important answer at a time. Don't try to
collect answers from each group or invite a long repetitive list from a single group. Seek out
unique anwsers that are full of meaning.
 Intervene quickly and clearly when someone jumps up the Ladder of Inference
 Don't jump over the So What? stage too quickly. It can be challenging for people to link
observations directly to patterns. It is the most difficult of the three Whats. Use the Ladder
of Inference as a reminder of the logical steps "up the ladder" from observations to action.
 Appreciate candid feedback and recognize it
  Build in time for the debrief—don’t trivialize it, don’t rush it
 Make it the norm to debrief with W3, however quickly, at the end of everything

Riffs and Variations

 Use a talking obect for each round. It slows and deepens the productivity of W3
 For the What? question, spend time sifting items that arise into three categories: facts with
evidence, shared observations, feelings, and opinions
 Add a What If? question between So What? and Now What?
 For the So What? Question, sift items into patterns, conclusions, hypotheses/educated
guesses, beliefs
 Invite a small group of volunteers to debrief in front of the whole room. People with strong
reactions and diverse roles should be invited to join in.

Examples

 For drawing out the history and meaning of the events prior to your gathering, start a
meeting with W³
 For debriefing any meeting topic that generates complex or controversial responses
 For groups with people who have strong opinions or individuals who dominate the
conversation
 For groups with people who have difficulty listening to others with different backgrounds
 For use in place of a leader “telling” people what to think, what conclusions to draw, or what
actions to take (often unintentionally)
 As a standard discipline at the end of all meetings
 Right after a shocking event

More on talking obects: a taking object can be anything you are able to pass from one person
to another. When you have it, you are invited to speak. When you don’t, you are invited to
listen. Natural objects that are enjoyable to hold in your hands. Playful art objects can also
help lighten the mood for very serious topics. In a pinch, a book or pen will serve.

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Chris Argyris introduced the “Ladder of Inference” in Reasoning, Learning, and Action:
Individual and Organizational (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1982). Peter Senge popularized it
in The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (New York:
Doubleday, 1990).

Collateral Material

Below: Presentation materials for introducing What, So What, Now What?

 10. Discovery & Action Dialogue (DAD)

Discover, Invent, and Unleash Local Solutions to Chronic Problems (25-70 min.)

Live the questions now and perhaps without knowing it you will live along someday into the
answers. – Rainier Maria Rilke

What is made possible? DADs make it easy for a group or community to discover practices
and behaviors that enable some individuals (without access to special resources and facing the
same constraints) to find better solutions than their peers to common problems. These are
called positive deviant (PD) behaviors and practices. DADs make it possible for people in the
group, unit, or community to discover by themselves these PD practices. DADs also create
favorable conditions for stimulating participants’ creativity in spaces where they can feel safe
to invent new and more effective practices. Resistance to change evaporates as participants
are unleashed to choose freely which practices they will adopt or try and which problems they
will tackle. DADs make it possible to achieve frontline ownership of solutions.

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite people to uncover tacit or latent solutions to a shared challenge that are hidden
among people in their working group, unit, or community. Ask anybody interested in
solving the problem to join a small group and participate in a DAD. In the group, ask
seven progressive questions:

1. How do you know when problem X is present?

2. How do you contribute effectively to solving problem X?
3. What prevents you from doing this or taking these actions all the time?
4. Do you know anybody who is able to frequently solve problem X and overcome
barriers? What behaviors or practices made their success possible?
5. Do you have any ideas?
6. What needs to be done to make it happen? Any volunteers?
7. Who else needs to be involved?

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 DADs take place in a local setting or unit

 Groups may be standing or sitting around a table
 Paper, flip chart, or software/projection equipment needed to record insights and
actions

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Facilitator introduces the questions

  Everyone who is around is invited to join and be included
 Everyone in the group has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Facilitator works with a partner to serve as a recorder

 Group size can be 5–15 people
 Diversity in roles and experience is an important asset

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 State the purpose of the initiative being discussed and the DAD and invite brief round-
robin introductions. 5 min.
 Ask the 7 questions one by one in the order given in the Invitation. Address them to
the whole group and give everyone the opportunity to speak to each question. Make
sure your recorder captures insights and action ideas as they emerge—big ones may
emerge when you least expect it. 15–60 min.
 Ask your recorder to recap insights, action ideas, and who else needs to be included. 5
min.

WHY? Purposes

 Engage frontline people in finding solutions to thorny challenges

 Discover tacit and latent behaviors and practices that are positively deviant from the
norm
 Spark the emergence of new solutions
 Inspire rather than compel behaviors that solve complex problems
 Generate changes that are sustained because they are discovered and invented by the
people doing the work, rather than imported and imposed
 Solve local problems locally and spread momentum across units
 Build relationships between people in diverse functions and levels that otherwise don’t
work together to solve problems

Tips and Traps

 Question #2 often consists of two parts: how the problem affects the individual
personally and how it affects others. For instance, “What do you do to protect yourself
from infections and what do you do to prevent infection transmissions?” or “What do
you do to keep your students engaged and what do you to keep yourself energized and
enthusiastic?”
 Hold the DADs where the participants work to minimize obstacles for participation
 Make impromptu invitations for people to join in as you enter the area
 Create an informal “climate,” starting with introductions and an anecdote if
appropriate
 Maintain eye contact and sit with the group (not higher or away from the group)
 Be sure you talk much less than participants, encouraging everyone to share stories
and “sift” for action opportunities
 Dramatizing Behavior Change to Stop Infections” in Part Three: Stories from the Field
  Notice when you form judgments in your head about what is right or wrong, then
count to ten and “let it go” before you say anything (you may need to ask for the help
of your recorder or a facilitator colleague)
 Avoid statements like “that’s a good idea” and leave space for participants to make
their own assessments
 Demonstrate genuine curiosity in everyone’s contributions without answering the
questions yourself: study at the feet of the people who do the work
 Do not give or take assignments!
 Don’t judge yourself too harshly: it takes practice to develop a high level of skill with
this approach to facilitation. Be sure to ask your recorder for direct feedback.

Riffs and Variations

 Use TRIZ-like questions instead of the first three, namely: (1) What can you do to
make sure that problem X becomes much worse? (2) Is there anything you are doing
that in any way, shape, or form looks like any of the practices you just listed? (3) What
is preventing you from stopping these practices?
 Use insights and barriers that surface to develop scripts for Improv Prototyping scenes
and organize Improv sessions
 Use the same sequence and type of questions to guide one-on-one conversations
 With virtual groups, use the chat function to share answers to each question, then
select powerful stories/behaviors/actions to be vocalized with the whole group

Examples

 For reducing harm to patients experiencing safety lapses (e.g., wrong-side surgery,
patient falls, medication errors, iatrogenic infections) with cross-functional
groups. Video of a DAD in progress to reduce the transmission of infections from
UHN in Toronto.
 For use as an ethnographic data-collection tool within a multi-site research project
 For eliminating practices that keep professionals from helping clients change
unproductive behaviors
 For a series of local dialogues to help community members discover solutions to a
chronic problem (e.g., disruptive children in a classroom, a cycle of violence that is
not solved only by punishing offenders)
 For researching and unleashing action to build professional competencies (e.g., in
medical schools and social-service agencies). See “Developing Competencies for
Physician Education” in Part Three: Stories from the Field.
 For use in a one-on-one conversation to find approaches to a tough challenge

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless

together with a group of coaches working to eliminate MRSA transmissions in hospitals:
Sharon Benjamin, Kevin Buck, Lisa Kimball, Curt Lindberg, Jon Lloyd, Mark Munger, Jerry
Sternin, Monique Sternin, and Margaret Toth. Inspired by Jerry and Monique Sternin’s work
in Positive Deviance.
Collateral Material
 11. Shift & Share

Spread Good Ideas and Make Informal Connections with Innovators (90 min.)

What is made possible? You can quickly and effectively share several innovations or useful
programs that may lie hidden within a group, organization, or community. Shift & Share gets
rid of long large-group presentations and replaces them with several concise descriptions
made simultaneously to multiple small groups. A few individuals set up “stations” where they
share in ten minutes the essence of their innovations that may be of value to others. As small
groups move from one innovator’s station to another, their size makes it easy for people to
connect with the innovator. They can quickly learn where and how new ideas are being used
and how they might be adapted to their own situations. Innovators learn from the repetition,
and groups can easily spot opportunities for creative mash-ups of ideas.

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite participants to visit several innovators who will share something new or
innovative they are doing and that may be of value to them

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 A large space where 5 to 8 stations can be set up far enough from each other to
minimize interference with one another
 A suitable number of chairs to accommodate the small groups at each station
 Space for a display as needed by presenters

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 A few members of the group, the presenters, share their work

 Everyone else in the small groups has an equal opportunity to participate and
contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Presenters set up their individual stations

 The whole group is split into the same number of small groups as there are presenters,
for instance, 7 small groups if there are 7 presenters
 Groups stay together while they rotate through all the innovation stations

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Describe the process: explain that small groups will move from station to station for a
10-minute presentation and brief questions and feedback period. If it wasn’t done in
 advance, identify the 3 to 7 presenters for the innovation stations (can be people who
volunteer in the moment). Form the same number of small groups as there are
presenters. 5 min.
 Each small group goes to a different station, where presenters conduct their sessions
(repeated up to 7 times). 10 min. per station/session
 Participants ask questions or provide feedback. 2 min. per station/session
 Small groups move to the next station. 1 min. per move
 Repeat until groups have visited all stations.
 Total time for visiting 6 stations is approximately 90 minutes.

WHY? Purposes

 Quickly share ideas and innovations

 Enable people to recognize that they are innovating or have the potential to innovate
 Build trust and a community of practice among members
 Reveal how the formal technological hierarchy can obscure the hidden contributions
of frontline innovators
 Quickly give participants a sense of the innovation landscape
 Explore and expose bottom-up and fringe-in innovations
 Spark friendly competition, mash-ups, and collaboration

Tips and Traps

 Pick presenters by digging deep into the informal social networks (presentation skills
and charisma are less important than content for this approach)
 Keep tightly to the schedule: use a loud sound or tingsha bells to signal the shift from
one station to the next
 When possible prepare the presenters: 10 minutes is much shorter than they are used
to!
 Invite presenters to tell stories that help the audience make the leap from
understanding a small example of behavior change to seeing a broad change in values
or a shift in resource allocation, or both
 Invite presenters to supplement their presentations with examples and objects that
participants can see and touch
 Encourage presenters to entertain and engage the imagination of the audience
 Trust that people will follow up to get more depth if they are interested

Riffs and Variations

 Invite the roving groups to use What, So What, Now What? to debrief what they
experienced
 Like a PechaKucha Night presentation, add snacks and drinks at each station
 Shorten the presentation time to 8 minutes
 Do not establish set groups; instead mash up with Open Space (individuals use their
two feet to go where they are most curious about and where they are learning
something)
 If you do a second round, leave a few stations open for impromptu presenters
 Use with virtual groups by creating a series of chat rooms. The groups then select a
handful of sessions they want to attend
 String together with Improv Prototyping to generate variations on ideas presented
Examples

 For orienting new members of a research consortium to the depth and breadth of
innovations within the whole community
 For introducing technology applications at a conference, mixing presenters from
within the field with commercial vendors
 For highlighting the programs and people from two “sides” of a newly merged
organization

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Inspired by Chris McCarthy and the Innovation Learning Network.

Collateral Material

Below: Presentation materials we use to introduce Shift & Share

 12. 25/10 Crowd Sourcing

Rapidly Generate and Sift a Group’s Most Powerful Actionable Ideas (30 min.)

Reality is only a consensual hunch. – Lily Tomlin

What is made possible? You can help a large crowd generate and sort their bold ideas for
action in 30 minutes or less! With 25/10 Crowd Sourcing, you can spread innovations “out
and up” as everyone notices the patterns in what emerges. Though it is fun, fast, and casual, it
is a serious and valid way to generate an uncensored set of bold ideas and then to tap the
wisdom of the whole group to identify the top ten. Surprises are frequent!

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite participants to think big and bold and discover the most attractive of their ideas
together by asking, “If you were ten times bolder, what big idea would you
recommend? What first step would you take to get started?”

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Open space without chairs or tables

 Participants will be standing and milling about
 Index cards, one for each participant

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone is included and participates at the same time

 Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Individually to generate bold idea and first step and write on index card
 Everyone standing to pass cards around
 Pairs to exchange thoughts
 Individually to score the card participants have in their hand
 Whole group for sharing highest final scores and ideas

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Explain the process. First, every participant writes on an index card his or her bold
idea and first step. Then people mill around and cards are passed from person to
person. "Mill and Pass only. No reading." When the bell rings, people stop passing
cards and pair up to exchange thoughts on the cards in their hands. [Another good
 option is to read the card with no talking]. Then participants individually rate the
idea/step on their card with a score of 1 to 5 (1 for low and 5 for high) and write it on
the back of the card. This is called "Read and Score." When the bell rings, cards are
passed around a second time "Mill and Pass" until the bell rings and the "Read and
Score" scoring cycle repeats. This is done for a total of five scoring rounds. At the end
of cycle five, participants add the five scores on the back of the last card they are
holding. Finally, the ideas with the top ten scores are identified and shared with the
whole group. 3 min.
 Demonstrate one exchange-and-scoring interaction using a sample index card to
clarify what is expected during the milling, namely no reading of the cards, only
passing the cards from person to person so that each person has one and only one card
in hand. The process can be confusing for some people. 2 min.

 Invite each participant to write a big idea and first step on his or her card. 5 min.
 Conduct five 3-minute exchange-and-scoring rounds with time for milling (and
laughing) in between. 15 min.
 Ask participants to add the 5 scores on the back of the card they are holding
 Find the best-scoring ideas with the whole group by conducting a countdown. Ask,
“Who has a 25?” Invite each participant, if any, holding a card scored 25 to read out
the idea and action step. Continue with “Who has a 24?,” “Who has a 23”…. Stop
when the top ten ideas have been identified and shared. 5 min.
 End by asking, “What caught your attention about 25/10?” 2 min.

WHY? Purposes

 Develop a group’s ability to quickly tap their own very diverse sources of wisdom
 Obtain results that are more likely to endure because they were generated
transparently from within and without imported advice
 Spark synergy among diverse views while building coherence
 Encourage novice innovators to think boldly and come up with practical first steps and
testable hypotheses
 Create an environment in which good ideas and focused experiments can bubble up

Tips and Traps

 Some of the scoring may be erratic. If a participant at the end of round five has a card
with more or less than five scores, ask the participant to calculate the average of the
scores and multiply this average by 5.
 Invite the group to choose one big idea and first-action step and revise it so that it is
expressed even more clearly and compellingly
 Suggest a seriously fun but clear rating scale, for example: 1 = not your cup of tea to
5 = sends me over the moon. The crowd needs to understand and agree with the rating
system if it is to be used for decisions.
 As you start and demonstrate one exchange-and-scoring interaction, take your time
and ask for feedback, particularly if it is a large group.
 To make it hard to peek at scoring from earlier rounds, cover the back of the card with
a Post-it note
  Post all the cards on a wall or on tapestry paper, with the highest-scoring cards on the
top

Riffs and Variations

 Move to developing action plans or to Open Space with your Top 10

 Give more scoring weight to ideas or experiments with testable hypotheses. What
evidence would show your idea works? How will you test your idea?
 Do a second round of 25/10 Crowd Sourcing that includes others not in the present
group (aka Cloud Sourcing!)
 Include 25/10 Crowd Sourcing at the beginning and end of a meeting
 Array your Top 10 in an Agreement-Certainty Matrix or in the Ecocycle
 Instead of asking for bold ideas, ask, “If you could unmake one decision that is
holding you back, what would it be? What is your first step to unmake it?”
 Instead of bold ideas, ask, “What courageous conversation are you not having? What
first step could spark your courage?”
 Instead of bold ideas, ask, “What do you hope can happen in the future? What
practical first step can you take now to tip the balance in this direction?”

Examples

 For prioritizing ideas and galvanizing the community after an Open

SpaceTechnology or “Unconference” (participant-driven) meeting
 For illuminating bold ideas at the start of a conference or task-force meeting
 For wrapping up an important meeting
 For a closing circle to share ideas and reinforce bonds among group members. See
“Developing Competencies for Physician Education” in Part Three: Stories from the
Field.

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Inspired by improvisationalists, including Keith Johnstone.
 13. Wise Crowds

Tap the Wisdom of the Whole Group in Rapid Cycles (15 min. per person)

Every journey has a secret destination of which the traveler is not aware. – Martin Buber

What is made possible? Wise Crowds make it possible to instantly engage a small or large
group of people in helping one another. You can set up a Wise Crowds consultation with one
small group of four or five people or with many small groups simultaneously or, during a
larger gathering, with a group as big as one hundred or more people. Individuals, referred to
as “clients,” can ask for help and get it in a short time from all the other group members. Each
individual consultation taps the expertise and inventiveness of everyone in the group
simultaneously. Individuals gain more clarity and increase their capacity for self-correction
and self-understanding. Wise Crowds develop people’s ability to ask for help. They deepen
inquiry and consulting skills. Supportive relationships form very quickly. During a Wise
Crowds session, the series of individual consultations makes the learning cumulative as each
participant benefits not only from being a client but also from being a consultant several times
in a row. Wise Crowds consultations make it easy to achieve transparency. Together, a group
can outperform the expert!

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs for Small Wise Crowds

1. Structuring Invitation

 Ask each participant when his or her turn comes to be the “client” to briefly describe
his or her challenge and ask others for help.
 Ask the other participants to act as a group of “consultants” whose task it is to help the
“client” clarify his or her challenge and to offer advice or recommendations.

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Groups of 4 or 5 chairs arranged around small tables or in circles without tables

 Paper for participants to take notes

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone is included
 Everyone has an equal amount of time to ask for and get help
 Everyone has an equal opportunity to offer help

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Groups of 4 to 5 people
 Mixed groups across functions, levels, and disciplines are ideal
  The person asking for help, the “client,” turns his or her back on the consultants after
the consultation question has been clarified.

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

Each person requesting a consult (the client) gets fifteen minutes broken down as follows:

 The client presents the challenge and request for help. 2 min.
 The consultants ask the client clarifying questions. 3 min.
 The client turns his or her back to the consultants and gets ready to take notes
 The consultants ask questions and offer advice, and recommendations, working as a
team, while the client has his or her back turned. 8 min.
 The client provides feedback to the consultants: what was useful and what he or she
takes away. 2 min.

WHY? Purposes

 Generate results that are enduring because each individual and the group produced
them together without “outside expertise”
 Refine skills in giving, receiving, and asking for help
 Tap the intelligence of a whole group without time-consuming up and sideways
presentations
 Liberate the wisdom and creativity that exists across disciplines and functional silos
 Replace boring briefings and updates with an effective and useful alternative
 Actively build trust through mutual support and peer connections
 Practice listening without defending

Tips and Traps

  Invite a very diverse crowd to help (not only the experts and leaders)
 Invite participants to critique themselves when they fall into traps (e.g., jumping to
action before clarifying the purpose or the problem). See Helping Heuristics for a
complete list of unwanted patterns when helping or asking for help.
 Remind participants to try to stay focused on the client’s direct experience by asking,
“What is happening here? How are you experiencing what is happening?”
 Advise the consultants to take risks while maintaining empathy
 Avoid having some participants choosing not to be clients: everybody has at least one
challenge!
 If the first round is weak, try a second round
 Invite participants not to shy away from presenting complex challenges without easy
answers

Riffs and Variations

 Restrict the consulting to asking only honest, open questions, focusing on helping the
client gain personal clarity. In other words, forbid recommendations and advice (thinly
veiled as a question) or any speeches whatsoever! This is also called Q-Storming and
is similar to a Quaker Clearness Committee.
 Can be used with groups of up to 7 people but not more.
 The “large format” of Wise Crowds makes it possible for one person to ask a whole
room for help. See the detailed description of the five structural elements/min specs
below.
 Use Wise Crowds with virtual groups by using the chat function to share answers
from a small number of consultants, then opening the chat line and whiteboard to the
whole group for additional feedback
 Link to and string with Helping Heuristics plus Heard, Seen, Respected (HSR), Nine
Whys, Troika Consulting, What I Need From You, and Appreciative Interviews.
These Liberating Structures offer a variety of productive choices for helping.

Wise Crowds for Large Groups (1 hr.)

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs for Large Groups

1. Structuring Invitation

 Ask the participant who is the “client” to describe his or her challenge, the status of
any work in progress, and the advice or help he or she is looking for
 Ask the other participants to act as a group of “consulting teams” whose task it is to
help the “client” clarify his or her challenge and to offer advice or recommendations.

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 One chair for the client in the front of the room

 Screen and projector only if absolutely indispensable
 Three chairs for the primary consultants in the front of the room
 Groups of 5–8 chairs arranged around small tables, or in circles without tables, for all
the satellite consulting teams
 Paper for participants to take notes
 Index cards at each table to write recommendations
  Microphones for the client and primary consultants

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 The client has a specific amount of time to present and ask for help
 The primary consulting team has a fixed amount of time to offer help
 Everyone else on each consulting team has an equal opportunity to contribute help
during the balance of the time, which is also fixed

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Individual client
 One group of 2 to 3 primary consultants
 Any number of satellite groups of 5 to 7 people as consulting teams
 Mixed groups across functions, levels, and disciplines are ideal

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

Each person requesting a consult (the client) gets one hour broken down as follows:

 The client presents his or her consulting question and selects the 2-4 individuals who
will form the primary consulting team. The primary consultants move and occupy
their chairs in the front of the room. 2 min.
 The client presents the challenge and request for help. 10 min.
 The primary consultants pose clarifying questions to the client, using microphones so
that all participants can hear them. 10 min.
 The client turns his or her back to the primary consultants and gets ready to take notes.
 The primary consultants jointly form advice and recommendations, working as a team
while the client has his or her back turned. Microphones are used so that all others in
the room can follow their discussion. 7 min.
 Every satellite consulting team separately critiques the work of the primary consulting
team and generates its own recommendations for the client. 10 min.
 While the satellite teams work, the client turns around and uses this ten-minute period
to discuss with the primary consulting team.
 Do one round to gather the critiques from the satellite teams first and then a second
round to gather their recommendations. Gather only one comment or recommendation
per team, with no repeats. It may be useful to ask the satellite teams to write their
recommendations for the client on 3-by-5-inch index cards. 10 min.
 The client provides feedback to the consultants: what was useful and what he or she
takes away. 2 min.
 Invite a full-group conversation reflecting on the process, so what, and now what. 5
min.

NOTE: The timing for each step can be adjusted depending on the complexity of the problem
and the size of the group, but it is essential to stick strictly to the schedule and not let
discussions drag beyond the time set. It is always better to have a second round instead.

Examples

 For multisite research/learning groups to support and learn from each other
  For professionals in a national fellowship program to share progress and get help with
the action learning projects
 To replace progress presentations and reviews
 For managers trying to solve problems associated with a merger
 For foundation grantees trying to scale up their socio-tech innovations
 For getting advice on improving a relationship with one other person
 For salespeople (distributed over a large geography) getting help with developing and
keeping new customers

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Inspired by Quaker Clearness Committees.
 14. Min Specs

Specify Only the Absolute “Must dos” and “Must not dos” for Achieving a Purpose (35-50
min.)

A designer knows perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add but when
there is nothing more that can be taken away. – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

What is made possible? By specifying only the minimum number of simple rules, the Min
Specs that must ABSOLUTELY be respected, you can unleash a group to innovate freely.
Respecting the Min Specs will ensure that innovations will be both purposeful and
responsible. Like the Ten Commandments, Min Specs are enabling constraints: they detail
only must dos and must not dos. You will eliminate the clutter of nonessential rules, the Max
Specs that get in the way of innovation. Often two to five Min Specs are sufficient to boost
performance by adding more freedom AND more responsibility to the group’s understanding
of what it must do to make progress. Out of their experience in the field, participants shape
and adapt Min Specs together, working as one. Following the rules makes it possible for the
group to go wild!

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 In the context of a challenging activity, a new initiative, or a strategic bottleneck,

invite the participants to first generate the entire list of all the do’s and don’ts that they
should pay attention to in order to achieve a successful outcome. This is the list of
maximum specifications (Max Specs).
 After the list of Max Specs has been developed, ask the participants to reduce it to the
absolute minimum needed to achieve their purpose. Invite them to sift through the list
one item at a time and eliminate every rule that gets a positive answer to the question,
“If we broke or ignored this rule, could we still achieve our purpose?”

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Groups of 4 to 7 chairs around small tables

 Paper to record Max and Min Specs

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone involved in the activity or program can participate

 Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Start individually then small groups of 4 to 7

  Whole group for sharing

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Generate the list of all must-do and must-not-do activities (Max Specs), at first alone
for one minute then consolidate and expand in the small group for five minutes. Make
list as complete as possible in a short time. 6 min.
 Each small group tests each spec on its Max Spec list against the purpose statement. If
the spec can be violated and the purpose still achieved, the spec is dropped from the
list. 15 min.
 Do a second round if needed. 15 min.
 Compare across small groups and consolidate to the shortest list. 15 min.

WHY? Purposes

 Evaluate and decide what is absolutely essential for success

 Open space for new possibilities
 Reduce frontline frustration and free people from micromanagement
 Focus or redirect resources and energies where it matters
 Help guide scaling up and spreading innovations with fidelity
 Simplify strategy in fast moving markets

Tips and Traps

 Focus attention on a tangible challenge, not a platitude

 Start with a complete list of dos
 Include as many players/stakeholders as possible
 Be ruthless in dropping dos: don’t allow max specs to creep in
 Do extra rounds as needed
 Make the Min Specs official! Live by them (no “yes but”)
 Give more weight to direct experience in the field rather than conceptual knowledge
 Keep the Min Specs alive by adapting them based on field experiences and Simple
Ethnography observations
 If groups are having difficulty, you may need to circle back to clarify purpose and
make sure that it is down to what is truly important.
 Learn more in Edgeware and from Kathy Eisenhardt at Stanford [YouTube]

Riffs and Variations

 Do a second round of purpose testing with the question, “If you followed all the Min
Specs except this one, would you achieve your purpose?” If yes, you can drop that
spec from the list.
 Instead of developing Min Specs for the present, ask people to speculate on what Min
Specs should shape action in the future. Use them to inform the present.
 Do Min Specs with virtual groups by using the chat function to share answers to each
“can you violate this specification and achieve your purpose?” question. When your
Min Specs list is getting shorter and tighter, open the voice conversation to all.
 Simple Ethnography or Nine Whys may reveal implicit or tacit Min Specs (dig
deeper!)
Examples

 Senator Lynda Bourque Moss used Min Specs to identify the must dos and must not
dos for all the stakeholders to share responsibility for preventing the habit of driving
while intoxicated and support new state legislation. Read Lynda’s story, “Passing
Montana Senate Bill 29” in Part Three: Stories from the Field.
 After a company-wide Open Space meeting, Alison Joslyn developed a set of Min
Specs with the new project leaders of a corporate turnaround. See “Turning A
Business Around” in Part Three.
 Include Min Specs with any assignment given or received.
 Examples from businesses, London Business School--Donald Sull [YouTube]

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Inspired by professor Kathleen Eisenhardt and author Paul Plsek (see Zimmerman, Lindberg,
and Plsek Edgeware).

Collateral Material

Below: Presentation materials we use to introduce Min Specs

 15. Improv Prototyping

Develop Effective Solutions to Chronic Challenges While Having Serious Fun (20 min. per
round)

To be playful is not to be trivial or frivolous, or to act as if nothing of consequence will

happen. On the contrary, when we are playful with one another, we relate as free persons, and
the relationship is open to surprise; everything that happens is of consequence, for seriousness
is a dread of the unpredictable outcomes of open possibility. To be serious is to press for a
specified conclusion. To be playful is to allow for unlimited possibility. – James Carse

What is made possible? You can engage a group to learn and improve rapidly from tapping
three levels of knowledge simultaneously: (1) explicit knowledge shared by participants; (2)
tacit knowledge discovered through observing each other’s performance; and (3) latent
knowledge, i.e., new ideas that emerge and are jointly developed. This powerful combination
can be the source of transformative experiences and, at the same time, it is seriously fun.
Participants identify and act out solutions to chronic or daunting problems. A diverse mix of
people is invited to dramatize simple elements that work to solve a problem. Innovations
represented in the Improv sketches are assembled incrementally from pieces or chunks that
can be used separately or together. It is a playful way to get very serious work done!

Sources of
Knowledge & Innovation, adapted from Alan Duncan, MD (Mayo Clinic), designed for VHA
Health Foundation (2006).
Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite participants to identify a frustrating chronic challenge in their work, then to

playfully experiment, invent, and discover better ways to address the challenge by
acting out the situation and possible solutions.

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 An open space or stage at the front or in the middle of a room

 If needed, props for the scene or scenes to be offered
 Small clusters of chairs to accommodate all participants

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone is included either as players or observers

 A few volunteers to be “players”
 Everyone else acts as observers and evaluators, then co-creative players

4. How Groups Are Configured

 One small group of players on “the stage”

 All others, the observers, in small groups in front or around the stage

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Explain what will be done and describe the sequence of steps. 2 min.
 Set the stage by describing the scenario that will be acted out and the various roles. 3
min.
 Players on stage enact the scene. 3–5 min.
 Each small observer group debriefs with 1-2-4-All to identify successful and
unsuccessful “chunks” from the scene that they just observed. 5 min.
 Each observer group then pieces together the successful chunks into a new prototype
and volunteers from within the group act out the new prototype for their own group
only. 5 min.
 Participants from one of the observer groups who judge that they have an improved
prototype volunteer to come on stage and enact their version in front of the whole
group. 3–5 minutes.
 Continue with as many rounds as necessary to arrive at one or more prototypes that are
good enough to put into practice.

WHY? Purposes

 Enable people to act their way into new thinking: Improv Prototyping is a rehearsal
for real life
 Break a task that seems daunting into smaller pieces
 Engage and focus everyone’s imagination on solving messy challenges
 Break through frozen or resistant behaviors
 Create an engaging and fun alternative to dry or unproductive training
  Work across functional and disciplinary barriers
 Help people learn from peers that have behaviors that solve the problem

Tips and Traps

 Be as inclusive as possible: invite everyone in different roles to join in

 Draw meaningful themes and dramatic lines for each scene from Discovery & Action
Dialogues and Simple Ethnography
 Consider creating three supporting roles depending on the complexity of the scenario:
stage manager, creative director, and facilitator.
 Replay scenes that do not capture the imagination or generate new ideas
 Invite people to let go of assumptions and biases by putting themselves in the shoes of
others, e.g., doctor plays nurse and nurse plays doctor, student plays professor
 Invite creative director to gently redirect the players as needed

Riffs and Variations

 With the goal of discovering better (and worse) actions, invite the audience to replay
the scene in small groups. Start with separate small groups staging their own
impromptu Improvs, then invite face-off competitions judged by an “applause-o-
meter”
 Link to and string with Design StoryBoards, Shift & Share, and User Experience
Fishbowl to help spread the innovations (specify what is and what could be)

Examples

 Hospital trainers have substituted Improv Prototyping for conventional courses

 For sales reps to invent new ways to interact with their customers
 For managers to make their interactions with people who report to them more
productive
 For health-care providers to practice end-of-life and palliative-care conversations with
patients and family members
 For teachers to discover effective responses to disruptive classroom behaviors
 For training young nurses to stand their ground on safety issues (see “Dramatizing
Behavior Change to Stop Infections” in Part Three: Stories from the Field).

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Inspired by Antonas Mockus (former mayor of Bogota) and Improv artists.

Collateral Material

Below: Presentation materials we use to introduce Improv Prototyping

 16. Helping Heuristics

Practice Progressive Methods for Helping Others, Receiving Help and Asking for Help (15
min.)

You cannot help a man permanently by doing for them something they could and should do
for themselves. – Abraham Lincoln

What is made possible? Participants can gain insight into their own pattern of interaction and
habits. Helping Heuristics make it possible for them to experience how they can choose to
change how they work with others by using a progression of practical methods. Heuristics are
shortcuts that help people identify what is important when entering a new situation. They help
them develop deeper insight into their own interaction patterns and make smarter decisions
quickly. A series of short exchanges reveals heuristics or simple rules of thumb for productive
helping. Try them out!

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite participants to view all human interactions as offers that are either accepted or
blocked (e.g., Improv artists are trained to accept all offers)
 Ask them to act, react, or observe four patterns of interaction
 Invite them to reflect on their patterns as well as to consider shifting how they ask,
offer, and receive help

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Any number of participants, standing

 No tables in the way of people standing face-to-face!

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone has an equal opportunity to learn and to contribute

 Participants switch into one of three possible roles as the activity progresses

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Groups of 3: two participants interacting face-to-face in the roles of client and coach
plus one observer
 Whole group for the debrief

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

  Explain that there will be four rounds of 1–2-minute improvised interactions. Groups
choose one member to be a “client,” another a “coach,” with the third acting as
“observer.” Roles can stay the same or change from round to round. The fourth round
will be followed by 5 minutes of debrief. 2 min.
 During every round the person in the role of client shares a challenge he or she is
passionate about. While the observer pays close attention, the coach responds in a
sequence of patterns that is different for each round as follows.
 During the first round, the response pattern is “Quiet Presence”: the coach accepts all
offers with compassionate listening [see the Liberating Structure Heard, Seen,
Respected (HSR)]. 2 min.
 During the second round, the response pattern is “Guided Discovery”: the coach
accepts all offers, guiding inquiry for mutual discoveries (see the Liberating Structure
Appreciative Interview). 2 min.
 During the third round, the response pattern is “Loving Provocation”: the coach
interjects advice, accepting and blocking as needed when the coach sees something
that the client does not see (see the Liberating Structure Troika Consulting). 2 min.
 During the fourth round, the response pattern is “Process Mindfulness”: the coach and
client accept all offers from each other, working at the top of their intelligence while
noticing how novel possibilities are amplified. 2 min.
 Debrief the impact of all four helping patterns as experienced by clients, coaches, and
observers. 5 min.
 Based on the debrief, repeat all rounds or only some for all participants to practice
various response patterns.

WHY? Purposes

 Reduce/eliminate common errors and traps when people are giving or asking for help
 Change unwanted giving help patterns that include: premature solutions; unneeded
advice; adding pressure to force use of advice; moving to next steps too quickly;
trying too hard not to overhelp
 Change unwanted asking for help patterns that include: mistrusting; not sharing real
problem; accepting help without ownership; looking for validation, not help; resenting
not getting enough

Tips and Traps

 Encourage people to change roles in each round

 Develop trust, inquire humbly, create climate of mutual discovery
 Focus on patterns that will help the client finding his or her own solutions (self-
discovery in a group)
 Do not ignore status differences, the setting, body language, demeanor, subtle signals
 The first cycle of four rounds can be used as preparation for deeper work on any single
pattern
 After initial cycle, let trios choose the patterns they want to focus on in their group

Riffs and Variations

 Invite participants to create their own profile, self-identifying their default patterns and
opportunities for growth
  Incorporate the helping progression into other Liberating Structures that focus on give-
and-take: Troika Consulting, Wise Crowds, What I Need From You, Improv
Prototyping, Simple Ethnography
 Start with “fun” patterns: neutral (zero response) and blocking by ignoring or
interrupting

Examples

 Used when Wise Crowds or What I Need From You does not achieve a group’s
intended purpose—for example, when participants have fallen into one of the
unwanted asking for or giving help patterns
 For nurses, coaches, teachers, or anyone else in the helping professions to renew and
learn new relational skills
 For any group working to improve interprofessional coordination
 For Liberating Structures facilitators to dig deeper into underlying patterns that cut
across many Liberating Structures
 For expanding options when frustrated with trying to help another person

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Inspired by author/professor Edgar Schein (see Helping in Learning Resources).

Collateral Material

Below: Presentation materials we use to introduce Helping Heuristics

 17. Conversation Café

Engage Everyone in Making Sense of Profound Challenges (35-60 min.)

What is made possible? You can include and engage any number of people in making sense
of confusing or shocking events and laying the ground for new strategies to emerge. The
format of the Conversation Café helps people have calm and profound conversations in
which there is less debating and arguing, and more listening. Sitting in a circle with a simple
set of agreements and a talking object, small groups will engage in rounds of dialogue with
little or no unproductive conflict. As the meaning of their challenge pops into focus, a
consensual hunch is formed that will release their capacity for new action.

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite all the participants to gather in small groups to listen to one another's thoughts
and reflect together on a shared challenge

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Unlimited number of 5 to 7 chairs around small tables

 Talking object (e.g., talking stick, stone, or art object)
 Markers and one or two pieces of flip-chart paper per table optional

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone is included
 Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Mixed, diverse groups of 5–7 participants

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 State the theme of the conversation, usually in the form of a question

 Explain there will be four rounds of conversation at every table, two first rounds using
a talking object, the third one as open conversation, and a final round with the talking
object. Give the duration of each round.
 Distribute the talking objects
 Read the six Conversation Café agreements. See text in Collateral Material below.
 Ask for someone at each table to volunteer as the host. The host is a full participant
whose role is to gently intervene only when a participant visibly fails to observe one of
the six agreements, most frequently talking on and on
  First round with the talking object: each person shares what he or she is thinking,
feeling, or doing about the theme or topic. 1 min. per person
 Second round with the talking object: each person shares thoughts and feelings after
having listened to everybody at the table. 1 min. per person
 Third round: open conversation (option to use talking object). 20–40 min.
 Fourth round with the talking object: each member shares “takeaways.” 5–10 min.

WHY? Purposes

 Make sense of a complex, difficult, or painful situation and lay the ground for being
able to move on
 Generate new ideas and momentum for innovation
 Build shared understanding of how people develop different perspectives and ideas
 Avoid arguments based on lack of understanding
 Build trust and reduce fear with an opportunity for catharsis
 Help participants appreciate that conversation involves talking and listening

Tips and Traps

 Always use the talking object: they make the difference

 Have the host or participants reread the six agreements before starting the first round
 Do not assign tasks: there should be no intention that the dialogue will directly lead to
action
 Host the dialogue like a dinner party, encouraging everyone to contribute while
keeping the conversation open-ended and spontaneous
 Use Wicked Questions to deepen conversation
 If there is a problem, ask, “Are we following our agreements?”
 Encourage people to speak their mind
 Encourage quiet people to talk
 Select talking objects that may have symbolic meaning for participants
 Encourage participants to draw or record insights on the flip-chart “tablecloth”
 Learn more from Vicki Robin and friends, who created the Conversation Café for use
in communities @ www.conversationcafe.org

Riffs and Variations

 All participants but one at each table can move to different tables every 20 minutes
World-Café style (see www.worldcafe.com for more information).
 Link to Graphic Recording. Place flip-chart paper on each table to collect insights
from each group. Encourage drawing and playful exploration.
 To move into action, string together with W3 (What, So What, Now What?), 15%
Solutions, Design StoryBoards, User Experience Fishbowl, or Open Space.

Examples

 For making sense of and start recovering from a major setback or shock in the market
or operating environment (e.g., first used in US communities after 9/11)
 For exploring a new topic or trend that is not well understood
  For handling a topic where there will be strong feelings expressed
 For reflecting after a major change: What does it mean? What assumptions can we
make? What conclusions make sense? What can we now believe?

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Inspired by and adapted from Vicki Robin and Susan Partnow, codevelopers of Conversation
Cafés.

Collateral Material

Below: Presentation materials we use to introduce Conversation Café

 18. User Experience Fishbowl

Share Know-How Gained from Experience with a Larger Community (35-70 min.)

What is made possible? A subset of people with direct field experience can quickly foster
understanding, spark creativity, and facilitate adoption of new practices among members of a
larger community. Fishbowl sessions have a small inside circle of people surrounded by a
larger outside circle of participants. The inside group is formed with people who made
concrete progress on a challenge of interest to those in the outside circle. The fishbowl design
makes it easy for people in the inside circle to illuminate what they have done by sharing
experiences while in conversation with each other. The informality breaks down the barriers
with direct communication between the two groups of people and facilitates questions and
answers flowing back and forth. This creates the best conditions for people to learn from each
other by discovering answers to their concerns themselves within the context of their working
groups. You can stop imposing someone else’s practices!

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Ask those in the fishbowl to describe their experience—the good, the bad, and the
ugly—informally, concretely, and openly. Invite them to do it in conversation with
each other as if the audience wasn’t there and they were sharing stories around a
watering hole or stuck in a van on the way to the airport. Firmly, ask them to avoid
presenting to the audience.
 Invite the people outside the fishbowl to listen, observe nonverbal exchanges, and
formulate questions within their small groups.

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Three to 7 chairs in a circle in the middle of a room

 Microphones for inner circle if whole group is larger than 30 to 40
 If possible, a low stage or bar stools make it possible for people in the outer circle to
better see the interactions
 As many chairs as needed in an outer circle around the inner circle, in clumps of 3 to 4
chairs
 In large groups, have additional microphones ready for outside circle questions

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone in the inner circle has an equal opportunity to contribute

 Everyone in the outer circle has an equal opportunity to ask questions

4. How Groups Are Configured

  One inner circle group of 3–7 people
 One outer circle in multiple small satellite groups of 3–4 people
 1-2-4-All configuration for the debrief

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Explain the fishbowl configuration and steps. 2 min.

 Inner circle conversation goes on until it ends on its own. 10 to 25 min.
 Satellite groups in outer circle formulate observations and questions. 4 min.
 Questions submitted to the inner circle are answered, and back-and-forth interaction
between inner and outer circles goes on as needed until all the questions are answered.
10 to 25 min.
 Debrief using W³ (What? So What? Now What?) and ask, “What seems possible
now?” 10 to 15 min.

WHY? Purposes

 Get down-to-earth field experience and all the questions and answers about new
endeavors out on the table for everyone to understand at the same time
 Create conditions for new ideas to emerge
 Make space for every participant’s imagination and experience to show up
 Build skills in listening, storytelling, pattern-finding, questioning, and observing
 Celebrate early adopters and innovators who have gained field experience (often
failing forward and vetting the prototype)

Tips and Traps

 For inner circle, pick only people with direct personal experience (without regard to
rank)
 Pick people for the fishbowl (inner circle) who are representative of the distinct roles
and functions that require coordination for success
 Encourage inner-circle people to share concrete, very descriptive examples rather than
opinions
 Advise inner-circle people to imagine being in a car or a bar sharing stories and having
a conversation
 Encourage everyone to share both successes and failures, “the good, the bad, the ugly”
 Enforce the “no speeches” and “talk to each other, not to the outer circle” rules!
 Have fun and encourage animated storytelling

Riffs and Variations

 Leave an open chair or two in the inner circle for someone unexpected to jump in
 With virtual groups, people in the outside circle use the chat function to share
questions “to all” or in “pairs” as the conversation unfolds among “the fishes of the
inner circle.”
 Mash-up or string together User Experience Fishbowl with Improv Prototyping,
25/10 Crowd Sourcing, Ecocycle Planning, Simple Ethnography, Shift & Share
Examples

 For transferring on-the-ground knowledge from officers returning from Afghanistan to

those replacing them (see “Transforming After-Action Reviews in the Army” in Part
Three: Stories from the Field).
 During a Liberating Structures workshop, a few experienced practitioners share stories
to deepen the understanding of new users about how to get started and how to get
practical results
 During a doctors’ meeting, an inner circle of specialists discussed a challenging case
in the middle of a group of primary-care physicians, sparking a discussion of the case
from specialist and primary-care perspectives
 A pilot group of salespeople shared with the rest of the sales force their experience
with a new handheld reporting device. The User Experience Fishbowl helped
everybody become comfortable that they knew all they needed to know to adopt the
innovation.
 For a public-sector organization trying to expand beyond “hidden” pockets of uplifting
service
 Members of an executive management team conducted their meeting in a fishbowl
surrounded by all their managers.

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless

and inspired by immersing ourselves in many different kinds of fishbowls over the years.
 19. Heard, Seen, Respected (HSR)

Practice Deeper Listening and Empathy with Colleagues (35 min.)

Empathy removes the blocks to action in a way that is inclusive. It creates power through
partnership and cocreation, resolving what appears to be knotted and bound. – Dominic Barter

What is made possible? You can foster the empathetic capacity of participants to “walk in
the shoes” of others. Many situations do not have immediate answers or clear resolutions.
Recognizing these situations and responding with empathy can improve the “cultural climate”
and build trust among group members. HSR helps individuals learn to respond in ways that
do not overpromise or overcontrol. It helps members of a group notice unwanted patterns and
work together on shifting to more productive interactions. Participants experience the practice
of more compassion and the benefits it engenders.

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite participants to tell a story to a partner about a time when they felt that they were
not heard, seen, or respected.
 Ask the listeners to avoid any interruptions other than asking questions like “What
else?” or “What happened next?”

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Chairs facing each other, a few inches between knees

 No tables

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone has an equal amount of time, in turn, to participate in each role, as a

storyteller and a listener

4. How Groups Are Configured

 In pairs for the storytelling

 Then foursomes for reflecting on what happened

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Introduce the purpose of HSR: to practice listening without trying to fix anything or
make any judgments. 3 min.
  One at a time, each person has 7 minutes to share a story about NOT being heard,
seen, or respected. 15 min.
 Partners share with one another the experiences of listening and storytelling: “What
did it feel like to tell my story; what did it feel like to listen to your story?” 5 min.
 In a foursome, participants share reflections using 1-2-4, asking, “What patterns are
revealed in the stories? What importance do you assign to the pattern?” 5 min.
 As a whole group, participants reflect on the questions, “How could HSR be used to
address challenges revealed by the patterns? What other Liberating Structures could be
used?” 5 min.

WHY? Purposes

 Reveal how common it is for people to experience not being heard, seen, or respected
 Reveal how common it is for people to behave in a way that makes other people feel
they are not being heard, seen, or respected
 Improve listening, tuning, and empathy among group members
 Notice how much can be accomplished simply by listening
 Rely on each other more when facing confusing or new situations
 Offer catharsis and healing after strains in relationships
 Help managers discern when listening is more effective than trying to solve a problem

Tips and Traps (for introducing HSR)

 Say, “Your partner may be ready before you. The first story that pops into mind is
often the best.”
 Make it safe by saying, “You may not want to pick the most painful story that comes
to mind.”
 Make it safe by saying, “Protect carefully the privacy of the storyteller. Ask what
parts, if any, you can share with others.”
 Suggest, “When you are the listener, notice when you form a judgment (about what is
right or wrong) or when you get an idea about how you can help, then let it go.”

Riffs and Variations

 If you are feeling brave, replace the word “respected” with “loved” (i.e., the agape
form of love—seeking the highest good in others without motive for personal gain.)
 String HSR together with other Liberating Structures that help to mend relationships:
Troika Consulting, Helping Heuristics, Generative Relationships STAR, Appreciative
Interviews, Conversation Café

Examples

 For regular meetings to improve the quality of listening and tuning in to each other
 For transition periods when questions about the future are unanswerable (e.g., post-
merger integration, market disruptions, social upheaval) and empathetic listening is
what is needed
  When individuals or groups have suffered a loss and need a forum to share their grief
or despair
 To improve one-on-one reporting relationships up and down in an organization

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Inspired by Seeds of Compassion practitioners and consultant Mark Jones.

Collateral Material

Below: Presentation materials we use to introduce HSR

 20. Drawing Together

Reveal Insights and Paths Forward Through Nonverbal Expression (40 min.)

A vivid imagination compels the whole body to obey. – Aristotle

What is made possible? You can help people access hidden knowledge such as feelings,
attitudes, and patterns that are difficult to express with words. When people are tired, their
brains are full, and they have reached the limits of logical thinking, you can help them evoke
ideas that lie outside logical, step-by-step understanding of what is possible. Stories about
individual or group transformations can be told with five easy-to-draw symbols that have
universal meanings. The playful spirit of drawing together signals that more is possible and
many new answers are expected. Drawing Together cuts through the culture of overreliance
on what people say and write that constrains the emergence of novelty. It also provides a new
avenue of expression for some people whose ideas would otherwise not surface.

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite participants to tell a story about a challenge they face, or a common challenge,
using only five symbols and no words

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 An open wall with tapestry paper or easels with blank pages in flip charts
 Water-based markers; soft pastels if you are feeling colorful

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone is included since the five symbols are easy for everyone to draw
 All participants make their individual drawings simultaneously

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Individually to practice the drawing of the symbols

 Individually to make first and second drafts of their drawings
 Small groups of 1–4 others to interpret the drawings
 Whole group for debrief (using 1-2-4-All for large groups)

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Introduce the idea of drawing together by drawing and describing the meaning of each
symbol. 5 min.
o Circle = wholeness;
 o Rectangle = support;
o Triangle = goal;
o Spiral = change;
o Star person [equidistant cross] = relationship
 Invite participants to practice drawing the five symbols: circle, rectangle, triangle,
spiral, star person. 5 min.
 Invite participants to combine the symbols to create the first draft of a story, working
individually and without words, about “the journey” of working on a challenge or an
innovation. 10 min.
 Invite participants to create a second draft, in which they refine their story by
dramatizing the size, placement, and color of the symbols. 10 min.
 Ask participants to invite another individual or their small group to interpret their
drawings. Remind them that the person who has done the drawing does not speak. 5
min.
 Ask the whole group, “Together, what do the drawings reveal?” Use 1-2-4-All with
larger groups. 5 min.

Below: Visual stories created in 40-minute Drawing Together sessions

WHY? Purposes

 Reveal insight or understanding not accessible with verbal or linear methods

 Tap all the sources of knowledge for innovation (explicit, tacit, latent/emergent)
 Signal that a quest or journey in search of new discoveries is under way
 Develop and deepen shared understanding of a vision or complex dynamics
 Create closer connections among group members

Tips and Traps

 Remind participants that the drawing is not the object by saying, “Refined drawing
skills are not required—get over your need for perfection! Childlike drawing looks
playful and captures the imagination of others!”
 Don’t help too much with drawing skills
 Help participants accept whatever emerges in the drawings (there are often surprises)
 Draw or present an example of a story that helps others make a leap of understanding
 Record the participants drawing with cameras and video recorders
 Return to the drawings when you reconvene as a group
 Remember that drawing can be powerfully therapeutic; be prepared for emotional
responses

Riffs and Variations

 One person can visually map conversations during a meeting (add words if you must)
 Start small: use a single sheet of 8½ ” by 11” paper to get started
 Computer tablets can be used instead of paper for participants to learn how to tell a
story with the five symbols on their tablets
 Use the Hero’s Journey as a template for the stories
  Use as a template a progression from status quo, through call to novelty, discovery,
validation, early adoption, and spread

Examples

 For a refreshing change of pace in a long meeting when a creative burst is needed
 When there are strong differences in perspective and the group is in a rut
 For visual facilitation of a meeting or conference, where drawings are created as the
conversation unfolds
 For revealing obscure or hidden relationships when working on a complex project
(e.g., one doctoral student had a eureka moment via Drawing Together)
 For helping a vision statement come to life (particularly for visually oriented people)
 For individual work, to visualize tacit or latent approaches to a challenge

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Inspired by David Sibbet (The Grove) and Angeles Arrien (see Signs of Life).
 21. Design StoryBoards – Basic

Define Step-by-Step Elements for Bringing Meetings to Productive Endpoints (25-70 min.)

What is made possible? The most common causes of dysfunctional meetings can be
eliminated: unclear purpose or lack of a common one, time wasters, restrictive participation,
absent voices, groupthink, and frustrated participants. The process of designing a storyboard
draws out a purpose that becomes clearer as it is matched with congruent microstructures. It
reveals who needs to be included for successful implementation. Storyboards invite design
participants to carefully define all the micro-organizing elements needed to achieve their
purpose: a structuring invitation, space, materials, participation, group configurations, and
facilitation and time allocations. Storyboards prevent people from starting and running
meetings without an explicit design. Good designs yield better-than-expected results by
uncovering tacit and latent sources of innovation.

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite a design team (a representative subset of the group) to create a detailed plan,
including visual cues, for how participants will interact to achieve their purpose
2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 An open wall with tapestry paper or flip-chart pages

 2-by-4-inch Post-its and/or Liberating Structures Playing Cards
 A blank storyboard (see Collateral Material)

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone involved in the design and planning of the meeting has an equal opportunity
to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 1-2-All or 1-All in rapid cycles for each step below

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Clarify the purpose of your work together (use Nine Whys if needed). 2 to 5 min.
 Describe the standard approach or microstructure you would normally use for this
session (including who is normally present) and assess how it succeeds and fails in
achieving the stated purpose. 5 to 10 min.
 Reexamine and strengthen the purpose statement if needed. 2 to 5 min.
 Reexamine and decide who needs to participate or be involved. 2 to 5 min.

 Brainstorm alternative microstructures (both conventional and Liberating Structures)

that could achieve the purpose. Determine whether the purpose can be achieved in one
step. If not, what must be the purpose of the first step? Continue with first step only. 5
to 10 min.

 Determine which microstructures are best suited to achieving the purpose; choose one
plus a backup. 2 to 10 min.
 Decide who will be invited and who will facilitate the meeting. Enter all your
decisions in the blank storyboard. 2 to 10 min.
 Determine the questions and process you will use to evaluate your design (e.g., Did
the design achieve desired outcomes? Did the group work together in a productive
way? Does something new seem possible now? Use What, So What, Now What?) 2 to
5 min.
 If multiple steps are needed, confer with the design team and arrange a meeting to
work on an Advanced Design StoryBoard (see description below). 5 to 10 min.

WHY? Purposes

 Evoke a purpose that is clear for all

 Make the work in meetings productive and enjoyable for all
 Give everyone a chance to make contributions
 Foster synergy among participants
 Help everyone find his or her role by making the design process visible
 Reveal the weaknesses of the current practice and step up from it
 Tap all the sources of knowledge for innovation (explicit, tacit, latent/emergent)
Tips and Traps

 Encourage and seriously play with fast iterations; repeat and deepen your design
 At a minimum, work in pairs (a second set of eyes and ears really helps) or small
groups
 Use icons and sketches to quickly develop shared understanding and actionable ideas
 Always include a design debrief (What, So What, Now What?)
 Don’t skimp on the time necessary to generate a good design. A good design will
reduce wasted meeting time by much more than it took to create it. A bad design will
generate frustration.

Riffs and Variations

 Use the same approach to map ethnographic observations of a current practice

 Use a pie chart to illuminate and balance the goals and flow of your design

Examples

 For management meetings of all stripes

 Project reviews
 Classroom sessions
 Brainstorming sessions
 One-on-one meetings
 Planning a learning session for a conference. See “Fixing a Broken Child Welfare
System” in Part Three: Stories from the Field.

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Storyboard from an immersion workshop in Seattle

Design StoryBoards – Advanced

Define Step-by-Step Elements for Bringing Transformation and Innovation Initiatives to

Productive Endpoints (18 hrs. and up to days/weeks)

What is made possible? You can avoid many of the traps that turn transformation initiatives
and innovation projects into failures: the lack of a clear and common purpose, overall and for
every stage of the initiative; inadequate engagement and participation; voices that are
essential but not included; frustrated participants and nonparticipants; resistance to change;
groupthink; nightmarish implementation for a disproportionally small impact. A
comprehensive design is a series of basic designs (see Design StoryBoards–Basic above)
linked together over a period of time. The design unfolds iteratively over days, weeks,
months, or sometimes years depending on the scale of the project. Small cycles of design
operate within larger cycles, scaling up and out as the initiative proceeds. You can easily
include more people and more diversity in the design group for larger-scale projects. You can
reflect the twists and turns in a transformation or innovation effort by a careful and ad hoc
selection of participants (including unusual suspects since they are often the source of novel
approaches).

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite an initial design team to create a detailed plan, including visual cues, for how
participants will interact to achieve their purpose

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 An open wall with tapestry paper or flip-chart pages

 2-by-4-inch Post-its and/or Liberating Structures Playing Cards
 A blank storyboard template (see Collateral Materials)

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone on the design team involved in the design and planning of the project has an
equal opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 1-2-All or 1-All in rapid cycles for each step below

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Determine the composition of a design team that includes all relevant stakeholders and
assemble the team (the composition can be adjusted ad hoc over time as the work
progresses). 1 to 3 hrs.
 Design team clarifies the overall purpose of the initiative (use Nine Whys or a more
elaborate microstructure as needed). 1 to 6 hrs.
 Describe in detail what happens when people use the current product, service, or
approach that you wish to transform/improve. You may need to use a method like the
Liberating Structure called Simple Ethnography to gather data for an accurate
description of this current user experience. 6 hrs. to days or weeks.
 Based on the users’ experience, assess how the current product, service, or approach
succeeds and fails in achieving the stated purpose. 3 hrs. to days.
 Reexamine and strengthen the purpose statement if needed. 1 to 6 hrs.
 Reexamine and decide who needs to participate in the core design group and who
needs to participate on the periphery to help with vetting or field testing. 1 to 3 hrs.
 Brainstorm and outline alternative microstructures (both conventional and Liberating
Structures) that help achieve the purpose. 3 hrs. to days.
 Break up your outline into steps or chunks that can be designed and function
independently (don’t try to put together a comprehensive design from the start). 1 to 6
hrs.
 Determine a design for one step, selecting microstructures that are suited to achieving
the purpose; choose one plus a backup. Repeat and continue with each step. 1 to 6 hrs.
 Decide whether any testing or vetting of your design is feasible or desirable. Consider
testing in waves and in different configurations. 1 to 6 hrs.
  Implement the first step in a simulated or field setting. Continue testing in more
extreme conditions.
 Evaluate the first and then the subsequent steps of your design.
 Repeat design cycle and refine the design for the next step, and so on…

WHY? Purposes

 Make a significant and enduring advance by breaking away from current reality
 Provide enough time for new behaviors to take shape and spread, expanding what
others believe is possible to accomplish
 See additional Purposes under Design StoryBoards–Basic above.

Tips and Traps

 Resist the urge for action and do not skimp on time spent designing the storyboard
then assessing and adjusting it
 Establish a core design team and keep the door open to others that want to join in
 Don’t forget to include users!
 Share the design widely
 Remember that a design makes it possible to improvise as you go: if one element of
your design is not achieving its purpose, go to your backup (or a backup of your
backup)
 Shoot for the moon with your feet firmly on the ground (i.e., anchored in user’s
experience research)
 Use icons and sketches to quickly develop shared understanding

Riffs and Variations

 In place of focus groups with users, invite the users to participate in designing a
storyboard to improve their experience with a product or service
 Find an illustrator or cartoonist to dramatize your work

Examples

 For redesigning the exchange of information and responsibilities at shift change

 For transforming from a product-centric to a customer-focused market strategy
 For reforming how academic training prepares students for practice in the field
 Read “Turning a Business Around” in Part Three: Stories from the Field. Alison
Joslyn’s management team used Design StoryBoard to formulate strategy discussions
and launch Liberating Structures “basic training” for product managers and sales reps.
 See examples in Chapter 7, “From Strings to Storyboards”

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

 22. Celebrity Interview

Reconnect the Experience of Leaders and Experts with People Closest to the Challenge at
Hand (35-60 min.)

What is made possible? You can enable a large group of people to connect with a leader or
an expert (the celebrity) as a person and grasp the nuances of how that person is approaching
a challenge. With a well-designed interview, you can turn what would otherwise be a passive,
often boring presentation into a personal narrative that is entertaining, imparts valuable
knowledge, and reveals the full range of rational, emotional, and ethical/moral dynamics at
play. You can often turn the interview into an invitation to action, drawing out all the
elements needed to spark the participant group’s imagination and encourage cohesive action.

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite the celebrity to let go of his or her formal presentation or speech and answer
the harder questions on everyone’s mind in a casual “talk show” format
 Invite group members to listen, see the person behind the celebrity, and write down
questions with colleagues

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Interviewer and celebrity in the front of the room where everyone can see and hear the
interaction (lapel microphones, bar stools, or living-room furniture recommended)
 Unlimited number of people in a space where they can sit to view the interview and
later form small groups (theater-style seating is OK)
 3-by-5-inch cards to collect questions generated via 1-2-4

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Part one, interview: everyone has an equal opportunity to listen

 Part two, questions: everyone has an equal opportunity to engage with one another to
formulate questions

How Groups Are Configured

 Whole group for interview

 Individuals, pairs, small groups for 1-2-4 to generate questions

Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Interviewer welcomes and introduces the celebrity and topic to be discussed. 3 min.
  Interviewer asks questions that the audience would be expected to ask (both humor
and gravity are appropriate). 15–30 min.
 Invite participants to generate additional questions in a 1-2-4 conversation and then on
3-by-5-inch cards. 5–10 min.
 Interviewer sifts the cards, looking for patterns and asking additional questions to the
celebrity. 5–10 min.
 Interviewer makes closing comments, thanks the celebrity. 1 min.

WHY? Purposes

 Create or boost a connection between an expert or leader and an audience

 Give substance and depth to a topic
 Avoid boring lectures and PowerPoint presentations
 Engage every individual in generating questions for further exploration
 Shed light on the person behind the position or expertise
 Bring big concepts to life with stories that come out in the interview

Tips and Traps

 A good sequence of starting questions is: What first inspired you in this work? What
challenges you in this work? What keeps you going in this work? What do you hope
can happen for us in this work?
 Give the questions to the celebrity in advance
 If possible, send background materials to participants in advance
 Do not allow the introduction to become a minilecture
 Interview questions should not be trivial or easy to answer
 Interviewer must ask repeatedly for stories and concrete details that illustrate concepts
 Interviewer may ask the celebrity, “Why is _____ important to YOU (not the larger
organization or system)?”

Riffs and Variations

 Have fun with riffs from the talk-show genre: channel Oprah, Stephen Colbert, or your
favorite celebrity interviewer
 The interviewer can conduct research in advance of the session, asking participants,
“What do you want to know but would not dare to ask? What is the most important
thing you want to know about this person or the work ahead?”
 Use a storytelling template to structure your interview (e.g., the Hero’s Journey).
 For strategy sessions, dig deeper into challenges by asking: What is happening around
us that demands creative adaptation? What happens if we do nothing? Given our
purpose, what seems possible now? If our current strategies were obliterated last night,
what parts would you bring back today?

 Use with virtual groups. Conduct the voice/video interview while inviting all other
participants to develop questions and comments in pairs or groups. Share the top
questions via the chat function to “all” when the interview is complete.

 String together with User Experience Fishbowl, Open Space, DAD, and What I Need
From You
Examples

 For a leader or leaders to help launch a new initiative

 To welcome and get to know a new leader coming into the organization
 To personalize and deepen the contributions of an expert
 For debriefing the experience of a few participants in an important event
 As an alternative to a case-study presentation: the interviewer helps to revive the story
and the local context underneath the analysis

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Inspired by seriously playful improvisers in Venezuela.
 23. Social Network Webbing

Map Informal Connections and Decide How to Strengthen the Network to Achieve a Purpose
(60 min.)

Nothing evolves or survives on its own. Life co-evolves through relationships and networks ...
assembled from the bottom up following simple rules of organization and communication. –
Kevin Kelly

What is made possible? Social Network Webbing quickly illuminates for a whole group
what resources are hidden within their existing network of relationships and what steps to take
for tapping those resources. It also makes it easy to identify opportunities for building
stronger connections as well as new ones. The inclusive approach makes the network visible
and understandable to everybody in the group simultaneously. It encourages individuals to
take the initiative for building a stronger network rather than receiving directions through top-
down assignments. Informal or loose connections—even your friends’ friends—are tapped in
a way that can have a powerful influence on progress without detailed planning and big
investments.

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite the members of a core working group with a shared purpose to create a map of
their network and to decide how to expand and strengthen it
 Ask them to name the people they are currently working with and those they would
like to include in the future (i.e., people with influence or expertise they need to
achieve their purpose)
 Invite them to “weave” connections in the network web to advance their purpose

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 A long open wall with a tapestry paper or multiple flip-chart pages

 2-by-2-inch Post-it notes in at least 8 colors
 Bold-tip black pens (e.g., Sharpies)

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone involved in the core working or planning group is included

 Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 1-2-4-All to generate the names of all the key groups

  Everyone together to generate the names of people in the network and construct the
map

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Create a legend of all the key groups in the network needed to achieve your purpose
and assign a Post-it color or symbol for each. 5 min.
 Every core group member prints clearly his or her name on a Post-it. Put the Post-its in
a group in the center of the wall. 5 min.
 Ask all core group members, “What people do you know that are active in this work?”
Tell them to create a Post-it with each of their names. Ask them to arrange the Post-its
based on each person’s degrees of separation from each design group member. 10 min.
 Ask all core group members, “Who else would you like to include in this work?”
Invite them to brainstorm and create Post-its for the other people they would like to
include. Ask them to build the map of Post-its as a web with a core and periphery
structure (mimicking the actual and desired spread of participation). Individuals is this
group may your your friends' friends. New legend categories and colors may be
needed as the webbing expands. 10 min.
 Tell the core group to step back and ask, “Who knows whom? Who has influence and
expertise? Who can block progress? Who can boost progress?” Ask them to illustrate
the answers with connecting lines. 15 min.
 Ask the group to devise strategies to: 1) invite, attract, and “weave” new people into
their work; 2) work around blockages; and 3) boost progress. 10 min.

WHY? Purposes

 Tap the informal connections that have indirect yet powerful influence on behavior
and results
 Disseminate knowledge and innovation across scales and through boundaries—within
and beyond the organization
 Develop more frontline ownership and leadership for change
 Help people see connections and “black holes”
 Help people self-organize and develop groups that are more resilient and able to
absorb disruptions
 Tip the balance toward positive change
 Operate without big budgets and extensive planning by tapping the informal social
networks and inviting people to contribute.

Tips and Traps

 Ask the core group to focus on developing a core group that gets things done and a
diverse periphery that adds new ideas and growth. The periphery is often in your
Friends' Friends network and they may be very helpful.
 Encourage members to dream BIG when considering whom they want to include in
the future
 Do not include more than 10 functions or distinct groups in the legend: it gets too
confusing!
 Write down people’s names whenever possible instead of positions/titles
 When weaving and connecting people, tell core members to think small (e.g., pairs,
small interest groups)
  Learn more from Smart Networks cofounder June Holley at www.networkweaver.com

Riffs and Variations

 Come back to the maps frequently: update who is involved now and growth patterns
 Use software to make the network maps, providing more detail and metrics
 String webbing sessions together with follow-up action steps via 15% Solutions,
Design StoryBoards, 1-2-4-All

Examples

 For a hospital core team working to engage everyone in preventing the spread of
infections
 For a group of Lean coaches to informally spread skills and methods among frontline
staff
 For middle managers in a financial organization to develop prototypes and launch new
products in multiple markets
 For provincial government leaders “translating” policy-to-practice initiatives across
diverse settings
 For expanding the use of a new technology, the early adopters gathered and mapped
out their network to identify potential new users

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Inspired by June Holley, network weaver.
 24. “What I Need From You” (WINFY)

Surface Essential Needs Across Functions and Accept or Reject Requests for Support (55-70
min.)

What is made possible? People working in different functions and disciplines can quickly
improve how they ask each other for what they need to be successful. You can mend
misunderstandings or dissolve prejudices developed over time by demystifying what group
members need in order to achieve common goals. Since participants articulate core needs to
others and each person involved in the exchange is given the chance to respond, you boost
clarity, integrity, and transparency while promoting cohesion and coordination across silos:
you can put Humpty Dumpty back together again!

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite participants to ask for what they need from others (often in different functions
or disciplines) to be successful in reaching a specific goal
 Invite them also to respond unambiguously to the requests from others

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Large room to accommodate 3 to 7 functional clusters of participants in different

sections
 Chairs for a group of 3 to 7 people to sit in a circle in the middle of the room
 Paper for participants to record needs and responses

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone is included in his or her functional cluster

 Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Three to 7 functional clusters (no limit on number of participants in each cluster)

 One group of 3 to 7 spokespersons to speak on behalf of each functional cluster

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Explain the process by describing the steps below. Reiterate the goal or challenge
being addressed to make sure that the context is the same for all. Emphasize that
requests must be clear and specific if they are to receive an unambiguous yes or no
response. Make it clear that no answers other than yes, no, I will try, and whatever will
be allowed. Position the functional clusters around the room. 3 min.
  Functional clusters use 1-2-4-All (or 1-2-All) to make a list of their top needs from
each of the other functions in the room. Needs are expressed as requests that can be
delivered with care and nuance in the following form: “What I need from you is
_____.” Clusters reduce their lists to two top needs, write these down in their expected
form, and select a spokesperson to represent the cluster. 5–15 min.
 All spokespersons gather in a circle in the middle of the room.
 One by one, spokespersons state their two needs to each of the other spokespersons
around the circle. At this stage, spokespersons take notes of requests, but no one gives
answers or responses. 15 min.
 Working individually (or by conferring with others in their functional cluster), each
spokesperson writes down one of four responses to each request: yes, no, I will try,
or whatever (whatever means the request was too vague to provide a specific answer).
5–10 min.
 Addressing one spokesperson in the group at a time, every spokesperson in the circle
repeats the requests made by him or her, then shares his or her responses (yes, no, I
will try, or whatever). No discussion! No elaboration! 10 min.
 Debrief with What, So What, Now What? 15 min.

WHY? Purposes

 Learn how to articulate functional and/or personal needs clearly

 Practice asking for what functions and/or individuals need
 Learn how to give clear answers to requests
 Reestablish and/or improve communication inside functional clusters
 Make progress across functional silos
 Mend connections that have been broken
 Get all the issues out on the table at the same time for everyone to see
 Reduce frustration by eliminating preconceptions and rumors
 Build trust so that group members can share accountability with integrity

Tips and Traps

 Remind participants that a whatever response means their request was too vague to
provide a specific answer
 Strictly enforce the “no immediate response” rule
 Strictly enforce the rule that the only responses are yes, no, I will try, or whatever (no
further elaboration is allowed)
 Encourage everyone to ask for what they truly need to be successful
 Have fun and encourage a safe amount of drama
 Don’t include more than 7 roles/functions (the waters get too muddy)
 In debriefing, try to draw out that people are good at complaining and not so good at
asking for what they need. WINFY helps you move from complaints to valid requests.
 Use question-and-response cards to help groups sharpen how they express their
requests

Riffs and Variations

 Consider a second round if too much appears to be unresolved or unclear: making

concrete and clear requests is an essential skill!
  In the debrief, give participants a chance to articulate what was not asked of them:
something neglected that would help achieve the groups’ purpose but was not
requested
 Instead of functional clusters, use the same WINFY sequence with a group or a team
of individuals who are interdependent
 String together with Helping Heuristics, Integrated~Autonomy, Appreciative
Interviews, Ecocycle

Examples

 For a global technical group (with members in multiple countries) facing the need to
make decisions in a fast-changing market (see “Getting Commitment, Ownership, and
Follow-Through” in Part Three: Stories from the Field).
 For three top executives who are struggling to give consistent direction to the next
level of leaders in the organization
 For hospital executives and managers launching a patient-centered care initiative that
requires multi-specialty collaboration
 For helping one-on-one relationships become more generative

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Inspired by consultant Kathie Dannemiller and professor Dan Pesut.

Collateral Material

Below: Presentation material we use to introduce WINFY

 25. Open Space Technology

Liberate Inherent Action and Leadership in Groups of Any Size (90 min. and up to 3 days)

One day a student asked, “What is the most difficult part of painting?” The master answered,
“The part of paper where nothing is painted is the most difficult.” – Painting Zen

What is made possible? When people must tackle a common complex challenge, you can
release their inherent creativity and leadership as well as their capacity to self-organize. Open
Space makes it possible to include everybody in constructing agendas and addressing issues
that are important to them. Having co-created the agenda and free to follow their passion,
people will take responsibility very quickly for solving problems and moving into action.
Letting go of central control (i.e., the agenda and assignments) and putting it in the hands of
all the participants generates commitment, action, innovation, and follow-through. You can
use Open Space with groups as large as a couple of thousand people!

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite people to come and address a complex problem

 Invite participants to co-construct the agenda by posting sessions that they will
convene on topics they are passionate about
 Invite participants to join any session that they care about

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Chairs in concentric circles for 10–1,000 people in a large room or open space
 Microphones needed for groups larger than 40
 Large blank agenda posted on easels and flip charts, long tapestry paper, or
whiteboard
 Agenda to include slots for enough concurrent sessions to accommodate what is likely
to emerge given the challenge and the number of participants. (One rule of thumb is
that 3 out of 10 participants will post a session, e.g., there will be 15 sessions posted
from 50 participants.)

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone who cares about the challenge at hand and accepts the organizers’ invitation
is included
 Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute
 The “Law of Two Feet” governs the participation of all attendees in the various
sessions. It says: “Go and attend whichever session you want, but if you find yourself
in a session where you are not learning or contributing, use your two feet!”
4. How Groups Are Configured

 Start together in one large circle (or as many concentric circles as needed)
 Continue with groups of various sizes self-organized around agenda topics

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

WHY? Purposes

 Generate action and build energy, commitment, and shared leadership

 Address intractable problems or conflicts by unleashing self-organization
 Make sure that ALL of the issues that are most important to the participants are raised,
included in the agenda, and addressed
 Make it possible for participants to take responsibility for tackling the issues that they
care about and for what does or doesn’t happen

Tips and Traps

 To get started, we recommend reading Open Space Technology: A User’s Guide by

the founder of Open Space, Harrison Owen. All the elements to try Open Space for
the first time are included and described very clearly.
 A compelling challenge and attractive invitation are key requirements.
  Write up the entire proceedings in a single document, completed and
distributed/shared immediately during the meeting.
 The facilitator should introduce the Law of Two Feet, Four Principles, and the
mechanics of Open Space in a seriously entertaining fashion.
 As the facilitator, notice when you form a judgment (about what is right or wrong) or
an idea about how you can help, then “let it go”: do one less thing!
 A meeting without the Law of Two Feet—namely, one where the agenda is created by
the participants but people are not free to attend the session of their choice—is NOT
Open Space!

Riffs and Variations

 Reopen the Marketplace a second time each morning (bigger collaborations may
emerge)
 String together with Celebrity Interview, Appreciative Interviews, and/or TRIZ before
you start Open Space and with 25/10 Crowd Sourcing after closing.
 Other forms of Open Space are called unconferences and BarCamps.

Examples

 For management meetings of all stripes

 Read “Turning a Business Around” in Part Three: Stories from the Field. Alison
Joslyn launched a business transformation by inviting all employees to a three-day
Open Space meeting.
 Read “Inventing Future Health-Care Practice” in Part Three. Chris McCarthy uses
Open Space to set direction for collaboration among the creative members of the
Innovation Learning Network.
 Immediately after a merger, for bringing together all the employees of both companies
to shape next steps and take action together.
 To share IT innovation prototypes and unleash collaborative action among widely
distributed grantees.

Attribution: Invented by Harrison Owen (see Open Space Technology: A User’s Guide).
Short form developed to fit in Liberating Structures milieu by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith
McCandless.
 26. Generative Relationships STAR

Reveal Relationship Patterns That Create Surprising Value or Dysfunctions (25 min.)

What is made possible? You can help a group of people understand how they work together
and identify changes that they can make to improve group performance. All members of the
group diagnose current relationship patterns and decide how to follow up with action steps
together, without intermediaries. The STAR compass tool helps group members understand
what makes their relationships more or less generative. The compass used in the initial
diagnosis can also be used later to evaluate progress in developing relationships that are more
generative.

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite participants to assess their working group or team in terms of four attributes:
o S Separateness: the amount of diversity in perspective, expertise, and
background among group members
o T Tuning: the level of listening deeply, reflecting, and making sense of
challenges together
o A Action: the number of opportunities to act on ideas or innovate with group
members
o R Reason to work together: the benefits that are gained from working together
 Invite them to jointly shape action steps to boost generative results

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Tables for small groups of 4, with a STAR compass graphic and pens for each
individual
 A STAR compass graphic on a flip-chart page for each small group
 A STAR compass graphic on a flip-chart page for the whole group

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone in a working group or team is included

 Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Individually to make initial assessments

 Small groups
 Whole group

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

  Participants individually assess where the team is in regard to each of the four
elements (5 mins.):
o S How diverse are we as a group? Do we draw out our diverse perspectives
among members?
o T How well are we in tune with one another?
o A How much do we act together?
o R How important is it that we work together? How clear is our purpose?
 In small groups, participants place a dot along each compass point, then talk with their
neighbors (1-2-4) about their placements, looking for consensus and differences. 5
min.
 Small groups decide what type of results are generated by the pattern of interaction
they have identified (e.g., high Tuning + no Action = we get along well but
accomplish little, high Action + low Tuning = routine results with no innovation, high
Tuning + high Separateness + high Action + low Reason = many false starts, etc.). 5
min.
 In small groups, brainstorm action steps to boost elements that need attention. 5 min.
 Whole group assembles list of action steps and decides “What first steps can we take
right now?” 5 min.

WHY? Purposes

 Improve the performance of a team

 Help a team become more self-managing and autonomous
 Sharpen the purpose and identity of the group
 Help people step away from blaming individuals and move toward understanding their
patterns of interaction
 Combine “diagnosis and treatment” without separating the planners from the doers
 Reduce frustration of people not happy with team dynamics and results

Tips and Traps

 Work up from the individuals to pairs, then table conversations

 Avoid making right or wrong judgments about where people assess the team
 Encourage team members to research, organize, and act on their own remedies
 Finish the activity with at least one specific action for each participant
 Make sure that who is going to do what by when is clear for all

Riffs and Variations

 String together with Liberating Structures that may boost low compass-point
assessments:
o Separateness (Conversation Café; Shift & Share; What, So What, Now What?)
o Tuning (Wise Crowds; Troika Consulting; Agreement-Certainty Matrix;
Heard, Seen, Respected)
o Action (25/10 Crowd Sourcing; 15% Solutions; Open Space; Min Specs)
o Reason (Nine Whys; What I Need From You)
 Use with virtual groups by inviting participants to place their STAR assessments with
a dot on the chart on the whiteboard, then chat in pairs and with the whole group about
the pattern that emerges. You may want to create a “synthesizer” role to help keep
things moving. Generate action steps via a chat version of 1-2-All.
Examples

 For a strategy retreat, focusing attention on group dynamics and results

 For deciding the composition and purpose of a new team or task force to be formed
 For two people to use in mending their relationship

Attribution: Developed by professor Brenda Zimmerman (learn more from Professor

Zimmerman at Change-Ability). Adapted by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Collateral Material

Below: presentation material we use to introduce Generative Relationships STAR

 27. Agreement-&-Certainty Matrix

Sort Challenges into Simple, Complicated, Complex, and Chaotic Domains (45 min.)

If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the
first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask…. – Albert Einstein

What is made possible? You can help individuals or groups avoid the frequent mistake of
trying to solve a problem with methods that are not adapted to the nature of their challenge.
The combination of two questions makes it possible to easily sort challenges into four
categories: simple, complicated, complex, and chaotic. A problem is simple when it can be
solved reliably with practices that are easy to duplicate. It is complicated when experts are
required to devise a sophisticated solution that will yield the desired results predictably. A
problem is complex when there are several valid ways to proceed but outcomes are not
predictable in detail. Chaotic is when the context is too turbulent to identify a path forward. A
loose analogy may be used to describe these differences: simple is like following a recipe,
complicated like sending a rocket to the moon, complex like raising a child, and chaotic is like
the game “Pin the Tail on the Donkey.” The Liberating Structures Matching Matrix in
Chapter 5 can be used as the first step to clarify the nature of a challenge and avoid the
mismatches between problems and solutions that are frequently at the root of chronic,
recurring problems.

Source: Adapted from professors Brenda Zimmerman and Ralph Stacey

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite participants to categorize their current challenges as simple, complicated,

complex, or chaotic
 Ask them to place every challenge in the matrix based on their answers to two
questions: What is the degree of agreement among the participants regarding the
challenge and the best way to address it? What is the degree of certainty and
predictability about what results will be generated from the solutions proposed for
addressing the challenge?
 Ask them to think about the approaches they are using or considering to address each
challenge, evaluate how well these fit, and determine where there are mismatches

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Chairs for people to sit in groups of 4–6, with or without small round tables
 Long open wall with a large tapestry paper illustration of the matrix taped to the wall
 One page with a blank matrix for every participant
 Post-it notes and markers for everybody

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone involved in the work team or unit under discussion (not only leaders)
 Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Individually to make initial assessments

 Small groups of 4 to 6
 Whole group

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Ask participants to individually generate the list of challenges that take up their time. 5
min.
 Still working individually, participants place challenges in their individual matrixes. 5
min.
 Ask participants to discuss in pairs. 5 min.
 Invite them to chat with others in a group of 4–6 to find points of agreement,
difference, and where there are mismatches. 10 min.
 Invite everyone to post their challenges on the large wall matrix. 5 min.
 Ask participants to form small groups and step back to reflect on, “What pattern do we
see? Do any mismatches stand out that we should address?” 5 min.
 Invite whole group to share reflections and decide next steps. 10 min.

WHY? Purposes

 Reduce wasted effort by matching challenges with methods

 Identify where local experiments may help solve larger problems
  Make visible to everyone the range and the nature of the challenges facing people in
the organization
 Reduce the frustration of people not making progress on key challenges by identifying
mismatches
 Share perspectives across functions and levels of the organization

Tips and Traps

 Clarify what type of challenges and activities are being included

 Work up from the individual, then into pair and table conversations
 Avoid making judgments about where people put their activities
 Explore items that fall into more than one sector by asking, “Does this challenge have
multiple dynamics at play? How is it simultaneously simple and complex?”
 Learn more from professor Brenda Zimmerman @ Change-Ability

Riffs and Variations

 Ask, “Where are there mismatches in your approach; what countermeasures make
sense?”
 Create a table that captures the mismatches and any action steps that will be taken
 Use the same approach for a single issue people are facing in their work
 Link to or string together with Liberating Structures aimed at developing strategies:
Critical Uncertainties, Purpose-To-Practice, Ecocycle, Panarchy,
Integrated~Autonomy, Discovery & Action Dialogue

Examples

 For introducing managers trained only in linear cause-and-effect analysis to what is

different about complex challenges
 For selecting a mix of change methodologies at the start of a new improvement project
 For helping a planning group move beyond “analysis paralysis” into an action phase
 For organizing the projects of a department

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Adapted from the work of professors Ralph Stacey and Brenda Zimmerman.

Collateral Material
 28. Simple Ethnography

Observe and Record Actual Behaviors of Users in the Field (75 min. to 7 hrs.)

The future is already here. It is just not uniformly distributed. – William Gibson

What is made possible? You can enable participants to find novel approaches to challenges
by immersing themselves in the activities of the people with local experience—often their
colleagues on the front line or anyone who uses their product or service. You open the door to
change and innovation by helping participants explore what people actually do and feel in
creating, delivering, or using their offering. Their observations and experience can spur rapid
performance improvements and expedite prototype development. The combined observations
may make it easy to spot important patterns.

Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite participants to silently observe people with experience relevant to the challenge
at hand and then follow up with interviews for more insight

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 In a local setting (workplace, client organization, neighborhood) with a convenient

space for sharing findings, photos, and videos
 Provide notebook, camera, video, permission (if needed)

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 All core-group members working on a challenge are included as ethnographers

 Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 In 1s or 2s distributed among sites being observed

 Whole group for debrief

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Explain the problem to be solved and the current understanding of the situation. 5 min.
 Identify sites to observe and people to shadow that will reveal user experience in
depth. 5 min.
 Invite participants to visit sites and observe without speaking interactions and
activities, recording details and internal reflections as they go. 10–180 min.
  Ask participants to then select behaviors observed that address the challenge in a novel
fashion (in part or in whole) and follow up by asking the individuals they observed
what they were feeling and doing as they engaged in the behavior. 20–180 min.
 Reconvene the group of ethnographers and use 1-2-4-All to compare notes and find
patterns across observations or exceptional solutions. 15 min.
 Write up observations or compose stories that highlight needs and opportunities. 10–
20 min.
 Feed insights into brainstorming and prototyping efforts. 10 min.
 Repeat steps until the core-group members feel they have a particularly powerful new
approach to prototype

WHY? Purposes

 Help invisible routines become visible

 Identify fundamental needs and innovative solutions
 Reveal tacit and latent knowledge not accessible by asking users for explicit needs
(e.g., with focus groups)
 Show respect and trust by observing and interviewing people on the front line

Tips and Traps

 Avoid adding meaning and interpretations too quickly to the observations

 Be prepared to repeat steps if the core-group members don’t feel they have a
particularly powerful new approach to prototype
 Be aware that insight comes from inconspicuous, often overlooked details
 Focus on the intrinsic qualities; ignore material or technological hierarchy
 Look for what is irregular, intimate, unpretentious
 Look for comfort with ambiguity
 Don’t ignore what is imperfect, crude, or impermanent—deviance can be positive
 Do one or more rounds of simple ethnography after you implement your new approach

Riffs and Variations

 Use a storytelling template to structure observations (e.g., the Hero’s Journey)

 Ask participants to draw or build a model of the challenge (be ready to be surprised by
the deeper insights that nonverbal methods produce)
 Include clients in the observations (e.g., invite clients to record their own behaviors
and share the images or video with the group)

Examples

 For sales representatives to discover how some of their colleagues are getting better
results without additional resources or privileges
 For understanding how some clinicians are able to attend to the spiritual needs of
patients and other are not
 For understanding why patients wander out of hospital isolation-precaution rooms
despite repeated warnings
 For understanding how to reduce the patient falls in hospitals
 For understanding the differences between effective and ineffective meetings
Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.
Inspired by Chris McCarthy and ethnographers in the Innovation Learning Network.

Collateral Material
 29. Integrated~Autonomy

Move from Either-or to Robust Both-and Solutions (80 min.)

There are two kinds of truth. There are superficial truths, the opposite of which are obviously
wrong. But there are also profound truths, whose opposite are equally right. – Niels Bohr

What is made possible? You can help a group move from either-or conflicts to both-and
strategies and solutions. You can engage everyone in sharper strategic thinking, mutual
understanding, and collaborative action by surfacing the advantage of being both more
integrated and more autonomous. Attending to paradox will reveal opportunities for profound
leaps in performance by addressing questions such as: What mix of integrative control and
autonomous freedom will advance our purpose? Where do our needs for global fidelity and
consistency meet the needs for local customization and creative adaptability? This makes it
possible to avoid bipolar swings in strategy that are frequently experienced by many
organizations.

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite your group to explore the questions, “Will our purpose be best served by
increased local autonomy, customization, competition, and freedom among units/sites?
Or, will our purpose be best served by increased integration, standardization, and
control among units/sites? Or, both?”

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Chairs for people to sit in groups of 4, with or without small tables

 An “Integrated Autonomy Worksheet” for each participant and a large one on the
wall.
 Paper for recording activities and action steps

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 All central unit leaders and local unit leaders involved in the challenge at hand are
included
 Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Individually to generate topics

 Small groups of 4
 Whole group
5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Introduce the idea of Integrated~Autonomy for the topic at hand by asking, “How is
it that we can be more integrated and more autonomous at the same time?” Have
examples from past experience ready for sharing. 5 min.
 Use 1-2-4-All to generate a list of activities that require attention by asking, “Where is
there tension between our desire to standardize and the request for more customizing
or autonomy?” 10 min.
 Ask participants to work in groups of four, and pick one activity from the list and ask,
“What is the rationale for standardizing? What is the rationale for customizing?” 10
min.
 Using 1-2-4 develop action steps that achieve standardization. Using 1-2-4, develop
action steps that achieve customization. 10 min.
 Ask, “Which actions boost both standardization (group A) and customization (group
C)?” See worksheet below. 5 min.
 Ask, “What modifications or creative ideas can be adopted to move some actions from
group A to group B or from group C to group B?” See worksheet below. 15 min.
 Using 1-2-4-All, prioritize the most promising actions that promote both integration
and autonomy. 10 min.
 Refine action steps by developing some effective Liberating Structures strings

Below: Presentation materials we use to introduce Integrated~Autonomy

WHY? Purposes

 Develop innovative strategies to move forward.

 Avoid wild or “bipolar” swings in policies, programs, or structures.
 Identify the complementary-yet-paradoxical pairs that are important and manage the
paradoxical decisions productively.
 Evaluate decisions by asking, “Are we boosting or attending to both sides?”
 Evaluate and launch new strategies

Tips and Traps

  A productive starting question has balance and sparks curiosity or a search for what is
working. Avoid making one side of the wicked question bad or less valuable to
success such as, “How does our effort to be ONE integrated organization squash local
autonomy?” Instead make your question equally appreciative of both sides, “How is it
that we are both integrated and autonomous in our current operations?”
 Draw on field experience and imagination in asking questions such as, “How can we
do more of both?”
 The goal is fidelity in a few core global attributes and differentiation in each local
setting
 Laughter and groans (e.g., arrgh) help to identify progress
 You may need to encourage the group to try many experiments simultaneously
 There often are no quick fixes and you may need to return to the challenge
periodically with additional rounds of Integrated~Autonomy
 When you start, the creative tension between the central and the local sides is
relatively invisible. If the group gets stuck or starts to argue, tell each side to put on
the hat of the other side and argue the opposite point of view.

Riffs and Variations

 Making progress with Integrated~Autonomy can shift what is possible for the whole
organization as people start to understand that what helps them succeed in addressing
a particular challenge applies across the board. Whenever this happens, use Min Specs
to go deeper into must dos and must not dos.
 Substitute collaboration and competition for integration and autonomy

Examples

 For hospital-system leaders to develop the contents of new management contracts for
small hospitals in the same region
 For a group of political leaders trying to formulate what should be legislated at the
federal level and what should be decided locally
 For infection-control experts trying to create hospital-wide policies that do not inhibit
unit-based innovations

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

 30. Critical Uncertainties

Develop Strategies for Operating in a Range of Plausible Yet Unpredictable Futures (100
min.)

To be prepared against surprise is to be trained. To be prepared for surprise is to be educated.

– James P. Carse

What is made possible? You can help a diverse group quickly test the viability of current
strategies and build its capacity to respond quickly to future challenges. This Liberating
Structure prepares a group for strategy making. It does not produce a plan to be implemented
as designed but rather builds resilience: the capacity to actively shape the system and be
prepared to respond to surprise. This means being better able to see different futures
unfolding, better prepared to act in a distributed fashion, and more ready to absorb disruptions
resiliently.

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite the group to identify and explore the most critical and uncertain “realities” in
their operating environment or market
 Then invite them to formulate strategies that would help them operate successfully in
those different situations

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Four groups of chairs around tables

 Paper, Post-it notes, flip charts, or tapestry paper for each group

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone responsible for planning and executing strategy is included

 Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Have a group large and diverse enough to break it up into four separate small groups
to develop the four scenarios and related strategies
 If not, make two small groups

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Describe the sequence of steps. 2 min.

  Invite participants to make a list of uncertainties they face by asking, “In your/our
operating environment, what factors are impossible to predict or control their
direction?” 5 min.
 Prioritize the most critical factors by asking, “Which factors threaten your/our ability
to operate successfully?” 10 min.
 Based on the group’s history and experience, select the two most critical and most
uncertain (X and Y). 5 min.
 Create a grid with two axes—X & Y—with a “more of <— —> less of” continuum
for the factor to be represented on each axis. For example, for the X axis, if the
number of new products is a critically uncertain factor, one end of the X axis is a large
number of new products and the other is no new products. Repeat for the Y factor and
axis. For instance, if patent protection is a critical factor, one end of the Y axis is
strong patent protection and the other is no patent protection. Four quadrants are
created. See example below. 5 min.
 Each of the four groups creatively names and writes a thumbnail scenario for one of
the quadrants. 10 min.
 The four groups share their scenarios briefly. 2 min. each
 Each group brainstorms three strategies that would help the group operate successfully
in the scenario that it has described. 10 min.
 The four groups share their strategies briefly. 2 min. each
 The whole group sifts results to identify which strategies are robust (strategies that can
succeed in multiple quadrants) and which are hedging (strategies that can succeed in
only one scenario but protect you from a plausible calamity). The balance of strategies
can succeed only in one scenario. 10 min.
 Each small group debriefs with What, So What, Now What? 10 min.
 The four groups share their debriefs and the whole group makes first-steps decisions
about their Now What. 10 min.

Below: Presentation material we use to introduce Critical Uncertainties

WHY? Purposes

 Test the viability of current strategies by exposing assumptions and uncertainties

 Increase capacity of everyone to adapt quickly and absorb disruptions resiliently
 Differentiate priorities in terms of robust and hedging strategies
 Develop more organization-wide confidence in managing the unknowable future
 Widen the range of strategic options

Tips and Traps

 When brainstorming uncertainties, recall predictions-gone-wrong and events that

caught the group off guard
 Challenge wishful thinking
 Use 1-2-4-All in very short cycles for each step
 Have fun with naming each quadrant (song and book titles work nicely)
 Have fun developing the scenarios, for instance, by turning them into newspaper
reports about a future situation
 Post-it notes help with combining and recombining ideas
 Regardless of role, a few people are naturals: celebrate their skillfulness

Riffs and Variations

 Build from this short session to a full-blown scenario-planning initiative

 For each scenario, invite small groups to dramatize a typical client interaction or
product from the future that puts your strategies into play
 String together with Conversation Café, Purpose-To-Practice, WINFY, Open Space,
Wicked Questions, and Min Specs

Examples

 For exploring what features should be included in a product or service that will be
launched
 For national policy and operating leaders to shape next steps in a health-care reform
initiative
 For IT leaders preparing for implementation challenges across multiple countries in
one region
 For executives and operational leaders to create a 10-year strategic vision
 For NGO executive directors responding to unexpected changes in funding and public
perception
 For counseling youth in unstable settings, likely to drop out of school or start living on
the street

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Inspired by consultant Jay Ogilvy.
 31. Ecocycle Planning

Analyze the Full Portfolio of Activities and Relationships to Identify Obstacles and
Opportunities for Progress (95 min.)

What is made possible? You can eliminate or mitigate common bottlenecks that stifle
performance by sifting your group’s portfolio of activities, identifying which elements are
starving for resources and which ones are rigid and hampering progress. The Ecocycle makes
it possible to sift, prioritize, and plan actions with everyone involved in the activities at the
same time, as opposed to the conventional way of doing it behind closed doors with a small
group of people. Additionally, the Ecocycle helps everyone see the forest AND the trees—
they see where their activities fit in the larger context with others. Ecocycle Planning invites
leaders to focus also on creative destruction and renewal in addition to typical themes
regarding growth or efficiency. The Ecocycle makes it possible to spur agility, resilience, and
sustained performance by including all four phases of development in the planning process.

Below: Presentation material we use to introduce Ecocycle Planning

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite the group to view, organize, and prioritize current activities using four developmental
phases: birth, maturity, creative destruction, and renewal
 Invite the group to formulate action steps linked to each phase: actions that accelerate
growth during the birth phase, actions that extend life or increase efficiency during the
maturity phase, actions that prune dead wood or compost rigid practices during the creative
destruction phase, actions that connect creative people or prepare the ground for birth
during the renewal phase. The leadership stance required for each phase can be
characterized as entrepreneur, manager, heretic, and networker.

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 A room with an open flat wall and open space for participants to stand comfortably in front
of the wall
 Chairs for people to sit in groups of 4, with or without small round tables
 A blank Ecocycle map worksheet for each participant and a large wall-poster version posted
on the wall
 Post-it notes for each activity

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everybody involved in the work is included, all levels and functions

 Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 1-2-4-All
 Small groups for action steps

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Introduce the idea of the Ecocycle and hand out a blank map to each participant. 5 min.
 Ask participants to generate their individual activity lists: “For your working group (e.g.,
department, function, or whole company), make a list of all the activities (projects,
initiatives) that occupy your time.” 5 min.
 Ask them to work in pairs to decide the placement of every activity in the Ecocycle. 10 min.
 Invite them to form groups of four and finalize the placement of activities on the Ecocycle
map. 15 min.
 Ask each group to put its activities on Post-it notes and create a whole-room map by inviting
the groups one by one to place their Post-its on the larger map. 15 min.
 Ask each group to step back and digest the pattern of placements. Ask them to focus on all
the activities on which there is consensus about their placement. Ask, “What activities do we
need to creatively destroy or stop to move forward? What activities do we need to expand or
start to move forward?” 15 min.
 In small groups, for each activity that needs to be stopped (activities that are in the Rigidity
Trap), create a first-action step. 10 min. or more depending on the number of activities and
groups.
 In small groups, for each activity that needs to start or get more resources (activities in the
Poverty trap), create a first-action step. 10 min. or more as above.
  Ask all the groups to focus on all the activities for which there is no consensus. Do a quick
round of conversation to make sense of the differences in placement. When possible, create
first-action steps to handle each one. 10 min.

WHY? Purposes

 Set priorities
 Balance a portfolio of strategies
 Identify waste and opportunities to free up resources
 Bring and hear all perspectives at once
 Create resilience and absorb disruptions by reorganizing programs together
 To reveal the whole picture, the forest AND the trees

Tips and Traps

 Don’t do your first Ecocycle Planning session with your group’s entire portfolio of market
strategies. Start with a simpler program, something tangible with shared experience.
 Remind participants that all phases of the Ecocycle must be parts of a healthy organization
 Be very clear on the domain or type of activities being considered—check activities to be
sure they are on a similar scale and domain
 Include views from inside and outside the organization or function (diverse participants and
clients can help)
 Preparations and explicit criteria for each quadrant may help or interfere
 Don’t hesitate to do a second round
 Identifying the Rigidity and Poverty Traps, plus connecting specific activities with these
labels, launches the search for solutions
 Learn more from professor Brenda Zimmerman at Change-Ability and see the excerpt from
her book Edgeware under the tab Publications

Riffs and Variations

 Ask participants to make a list of all their important relationships with internal and external
customers/suppliers (in addition to their activities) and to place them on the Ecocycle. Ask
them to evaluate the relationships with the same questions used for the activities and to
include them in the last four steps of the Ecocycle planning process. Highly recommended!
 String together with Panarchy, 1-2-4-All, WINFY, and Open Space
 TRIZ can help to deepen the Creative Destruction quadrant
 Use with virtual groups by inviting participants to place their Ecocycle assessments with a dot
on the whiteboard, then chat in pairs and with the whole group about the pattern that
emerges. Before you enter into full-group placements, use silence and paired chat (1-2-All)
to build understanding. You will need to agree on a short common list of activities or
relationships to help simplify mapping. Number or letter each item and invite placements
one by one. Sift and sort answers with a whiteboard and a person playing a “synthesizer”
role. Don’t worry about perfection in the first rounds. Virtual sessions can deepen or
complement face-to-face exchanges.
 What, So What, Now What? and 25/10 Crowd Sourcing can help spur action

Examples

 For service portfolio review with an information technology department

  For nursing executives and academics transforming their approach to education (evaluating
the history as well as proposed change initiatives)
 For planning changes in an individual’s personal life, sifting through activities and shaping
next steps
 For accelerating performance of an executive team in the midst of integrating a newly
acquired company (sifting through a mixture of two product lines and research
opportunities)

Attribution: Adapted by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless from professor Brenda
Zimmerman (see www.change-ability.ca) and ecologists (see http://www.resalliance.org).

Collateral Material

A blank Ecocycle worksheet/template (PDF created by Fisher Qua)

Below: A portfolio of market strategies arrayed around the Ecocycle by members of a

management team. Each number represents a strategy in play or under consideration.
 32. Panarchy

Understand How Embedded Systems Interact, Evolve, Spread Innovation and Transform (2
hrs.)

If a living system is suffering from ill health, the remedy is to connect it with more of itself. –
Francisco Varella

What is made possible? You can help a large group of people identify obstacles and
opportunities for spreading ideas or innovations at many levels. Panarchy enables people to
visualize how systems are embedded in systems and helps them understand how these
interdependencies influence the spread of change. Participants become more alert to small
changes that can help spread ideas up to other system levels; they learn how shifts at larger or
lower system levels may release resources to assist them at another level. With better
appreciation of the Ecocycle dynamics at play, the group creates “opportunity windows” for
innovations to spread among levels and across boundaries.

Below: Presentation material we use to introduce Panarchy

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite participants to identify what is contributing to the existence of a challenge at

levels above and below them. Ask them also to specify different strategies and
opportunities for change within each level and across multiple levels.

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 A room with an unobstructed flat wall and open space for participants to stand
comfortably in front of the wall
 A blank Panarchy chart handout
 A large wall-poster or flip-chart version of the Panarchy chart
 Post-it notes for each participant
 Flip-chart pages for the Panarchy graphic

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 Everyone involved in spreading a transformation or innovation effort is included

 Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 Individuals, pairs, groups of 4, whole group: 1-2-4-All

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Introduce the idea of the Panarchy (and the Ecocycle if needed). Show an example,
such as the MRSA infection Panarchy in Collateral Material below, and hand out a
blank Panarchy chart to each participant. 5 min.
 Invite participants to work individually to generate the set of system levels that
influence the spread of their ideas/innovation in three steps.
 First step alone to make a list of factors by asking, “What are the smallest-to-the-
largest factors influencing your/our chances for success?” Include micro (particles,
individual people, teams), meso (organizations, networks), and macro (culture,
politics, myths) factors that contribute to the existence of the challenge being
addressed. 5 min.
 Second step in pairs to “translate” the factors into levels and create labels for each
level (4–7 levels are sufficient). 10 min.
 Third step in groups of four to compare their levels and finalize their chart with Post-
its. 10 min.
 If there are multiple groups of four, create a single chart, by inviting each group to
place any levels not previously included on the larger chart. 10 min.
 Invite participants to work in groups of four to reflect on the following questions: “On
which levels have attention and resources been invested to date? Which levels have
been neglected? What do I/we know about the status and dynamics in play at the
different levels?” 10 min.
 In the whole group, share reflections from a few groups. 5 min.
 Ask groups of two or four to explore one level in depth with the Ecocycle. Each group
should pick one of the 4-7 levels. Distribute people with experience at the different
levels to those groups. Ask, “At this level, what is going on right now and what
actions are being taken for the challenge that our innovation addresses? Is the response
to the challenge in an entrepreneurial, bureaucratic/management, heretical, or renewal
phase?” Create a rough draft of Ecocycle assessments for this level. 15 min.
 Collect the Ecocycle assessments from the groups. Each group presents the Ecocycle
assessment of their level briefly. 10 min.
 In small groups, brainstorm a list of obstacles and opportunities in regard to efforts to
spread ideas/innovations. Ask, “Looking up and down the levels, what opportunities
and obstacles do you see for changes across the levels? What windows for new ideas
are opening above? What resources are flowing downward from creative destruction
unfolding above? What small-scale developments from below are disrupting the level
above?” Encourage the groups to go wild and have fun. 15 min.
 Prioritize the opportunities and obstacles that emerge. 10 min.
 For each opportunity and obstacle on your list, create one first-action step using 1-2-4
by asking, “What action can you take immediately to influence levels above and
below you?” And, “Who do you know that has influence in more than one level
simultaneously?” 10 min.
 Share action steps with the whole group by placing Post-it notes on each level of the
large Panarchy chart. 15 min.
 Invite the group to take a close look at the chart. Use What, So What, Now What? to
make sense of and prioritize all of the possible next steps. 15 min.
 Revisit and update the Panarchy chart periodically as the group continues work to
spread its innovation.

WHY? Purposes
  Identify a mix of strategies at multiple levels to move transformation efforts forward
 Create an opportunity for people from many different levels to work together
 Prepare for serendipity as opportunity windows open or close
 Identify people that span levels and can help the group move forward
 Help a whole group see the whole picture (forest AND the trees AND the bioregion)
 Create resilience and absorb disruptions by reorganizing together

Tips and Traps

 Use 1-2-4-All for all or most of the steps even if it feels like a chore: the objective is to
identify ALL opportunities and obstacles at ALL levels!
 Include people or perspectives from each level (the more participants, the better)
 Look to research when you are unfamiliar with dynamics at smaller and bigger scales
 Do not neglect history and its role in defining what is possible at each level.
 To learn more, see professor Frances Westley’s contributions to the SIG Knowledge
Hub on scaling (http://sigknowledgehub.com/2012/05/01/introductio-to-scaling/), her
work in Panarchy: Understanding Transformations in Human and Natural Systems
(Gunderson and Holling, eds.), and other writing.

Riffs and Variations

 String together with Ecocycle, 1-2-4-All, What I Need from You, Social Network
Webbing, Celebrity Interview
 W³ (What, So What, Now What?) can help spur focused action steps
 Use Panarchy for individuals by asking, “What is contributing to the existence of
your challenge at levels above and levels below you? What elements are perpetuating
the challenge you are facing? What are the different speeds for effecting changes at
each of the levels?”
 Link to the "trophic cascades" video about the influence of wolves in transforming
rivers in Yellowstone Park.

Examples

 Native American school administrators advanced education opportunities for their

students with innovations ranging from individual student advising to dispelling social
myths
 Safety advocates in one hospital planned the spread of their innovations locally,
regionally, nationally, and internationally
 Foundation grantees planned dissemination of their disaster-preparedness innovations
from prototype to national adoption
 An individual artist sketched out how her work can influence change at different
scales

Attribution: Adapted by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless from the work of
professor Frances Westley (see, e.g., Gunderson and Holling, Panarchy: Understanding
Transformations in Human and Natural Systems)

Collateral Material
 33. Purpose-To-Practice (P2P)

Design the Five Essential Elements for a Resilient and Enduring Initiative (2 hrs.)

Very real crises mark our time. And as much as we might like it otherwise, it appears that
doing what we have always done, only harder, will not solve them. – Charles Johnston

What is made possible? By using P2P at the start of an initiative, the stakeholders can shape
together all the elements that will determine the success of their initiative. The group begins
by generating a shared purpose (i.e., why the work is important to each participant and the
larger community). All additional elements—principles, participants, structure, and
practices—are designed to help achieve the purpose. By shaping these five elements together,
participants clarify how they can organize themselves to adapt creatively and scale up for
success. For big initiatives, P2P makes it possible to include a large number of stakeholders in
shaping their future initiative.

Below: Presentation material we use to introduce P2P

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

 Invite all or most stakeholders to participate in the design of their new initiative in
order to specify its five essential elements: purpose, principles, participants, structure,
and practices.

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

 Chairs and small tables for people to work in groups of 4

 A large wall with poster paper for recording the P2P result for each element
 For each participant five worksheets, one for each of the five elements

3. How Participation Is Distributed

 All individuals who have a stake in launching the initiative are included
 Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. How Groups Are Configured

 1-2-4-All
 Whole group for finalizing each element

5. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

 Introduce the idea of P2P, the five elements, and related questions, and hand out blank
worksheets. 5 min.
 To clarify the first element, Purpose, ask the question: “Why is the work important to
you and the larger community?”
 Use 1-2-4 to generate individual ideas and stories for Purpose. 10 min.
 In groups of four, compare, sift, and amplify the top ideas. 10 min.
 As a whole group, integrate themes and finalize ideas for Purpose. 10 min.
 Move to the remaining P2P elements, in turn, repeating the three steps of 1-2-4-All.
Be prepared to go back and revise previous elements as needed (expect some messy
nonlinearity). Use the following questions to guide the development of the next four
elements:
o Principles: “What rules must we absolutely obey to succeed in achieving our
purpose?”
o Participants: “Who can contribute to achieving our purpose and must be
included?”
o Structure: “How must we organize (both macro- and microstructures) and
distribute control to achieve our purpose?”
o Practices: “What are we going to do? What will we offer to our users/clients
and how will we do it?”
 After each element, ask, “Has this element shed new light that suggests revisions to
previous elements?” 5 min.
 When all elements have been completed, ask participants to step back and take a close
look at their draft of the five elements together. Ask them to use What, So What,
 Now What? in small groups to make sense of all of the possible next steps and
prioritize them as a whole group. 15 min.
 After the initiative has been launched, invite the participants to revisit their P2P design
periodically and adapt elements based on their experience.

WHY? Purposes

 Engage and focus everyone’s imagination in designing the collective future of

participants
 Avoid “design” by a small group of people or experts-only behind closed doors
 Pull together all the elements needed to launch and sustain an effort, thereby avoiding
a fragmented process
 Develop innovative strategies that can be implemented and spread quickly because
there is shared ownership
 Increase resilience and the ability to absorb disruptions by distributing power fairly
 Build the capacity to rapidly adapt any of the elements to changing circumstances

Tips and Traps

 Crafting a powerful, wildly attractive “purpose” is the most important step: you may
want to use Nine Whys, Appreciative Interviews, or TRIZ to deepen the conversation
 A purpose may be expressed as something positive you are going to start/create or
something negative you are going to stop
 Work in quick cycles, failing forward iteratively
 Multiple sessions spread out over weeks or even months may be required
 “Structure” usually is the element that requires the most imagination and leaps away
from top-down to more distributed control. Using metaphors (e.g., how can we
structure ourselves like a spider plant?) and visual representations can help draw out
creative designs.
 Principles: Must dos and must not dos often come from hard lessons learned in the
field (positive and negative)
 Rely on small groups to do the heavy lifting, and keep it moving
 Keep rounds on schedule and when more time is needed, do two rounds
 Rely on and draw out the inspiring-and-despairing experience of group members
 Invite the participants to use their intuition as the process unfolds

Riffs and Variations

 Start with one 30-minute, very rapid cycle covering all five elements to illustrate the
need for a strong and clear purpose: without one, it is easy to come up with a half-
baked design
 Graphic recording helps to hold attention and focus through the rigorous design
process
 You can add questions to enrich the conversation about Practices: What is happening
around us that creates an opportunity? What is at stake if we do not take a risk? Where
are we starting, honestly?
 When integrating all five elements for a project is too much, just do the one or two
design elements that seem most important
 Use the five P2P questions routinely as an easy checklist for small projects
  Use with virtual groups by inviting participants to answer the five questions via a chat
version of 1-2-All. Sift and sort answers with a whiteboard and a person playing a
“synthesizer” role. Don’t worry about perfection in the first rounds. Virtual rounds can
deepen or complement face-to-face exchanges.
 Use P2P to structure a much longer design session (e.g., a planning or strategy retreat)
 Invite talented participants to take on roles (e.g., writing, drawing, synthesizing)

Examples

 By the leaders of the Conversation Café dialogue movement

 The Quality Commons, a group of researchers from eight health systems, used P2P to
successfully create their consortium
 Going through the first stage of the P2P, a management team discovered a much
deeper purpose than it expected. The new purpose and shared experience inspired the
team to rethink its business model.
 To guide the launch of LS user groups
 By the Latin American region of a corporation to launch a new customer-focused
business strategy

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Inspired by Dee Hock (see his book Birth of the Chaordic Age).

Collateral Material

Below: Output for each of the five P2P questions

Purpose

Why this work is important to you and the larger community

We exist to invent and enliven a new form of organizing by pondering, practicing, playing,
and pouncing together

Principles

The must do and must not do rules we must obey to achieve our purpose

1. Users must share ownership of and responsibility for the group

2. Users must expect surprise, adapting to opportunities and discoveries as they emerge
3. Users must maintain transparency and honor Creative Commons principles
4. Users must maintain a practical “solutions focus” to group activities
5. Users must not over-organize activities
6. Users must continuously invite and welcome new users and novices into the group

Participants
Who must be included to achieve our purpose

 Core group members (those to take responsibility for organizing activities)

 A larger community of LS users (local, regional, national, international users that
participate in activities)
 Novices and new users (people invited to join activities by LS users)
 Influential experts and celebrity leaders not actively using LS

Structure

How will we organize (both macro- and microstructures) and distribute control in pursuit of
purpose?

For now, Fisher and Keith will coordinate administrative activities (e.g., MeetUp and
MailChimp to announce gatherings). Leadership of meetings will rotate among user group
members.

Practice

What are we going to do? What will we offer to our users/clients and how will we do it?

Four practices are afloat:

 A monthly face-to-face evening together in Seattle featuring use of LS to advance

learning;
 Occasional virtual confabs that include international users and special projects;
 An annual Chautauqua/Open Space shindig;
 And, a LS twist on the Community Consulting model... to help new users get direct
experience with complex challenges (low or no cost services are provided to
organizations via an experienced LS consultant and a team of less-experienced people
that want to learn)