Liberating Structures

Liberating Structures is an alternate set of interactions between team members and teams besides the traditional ways of communication which Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless called as Conventional Structures. They say that these five Conventional Structures are either too inhibiting(presentations, status reports and managed discussions) or too disorganized to be of any value(open discussions and brainstorms) to creatively engage people in shaping their own future. They frequently generate feelings of frustration and/or exclusion and fail to provide space for good ideas to emerge and germinate. This means that huge amounts of time and money are spent working the wrong way.
Liberating Structures is a set of 33 alternate ways of engagement which can replace or complement conventional practices. Liberating Structures introduce tiny shifts in the way we meet, plan, decide and relate to one another and by design, Liberating Structures distribute control so that participants can shape direction themselves as the action unfolds.
Liberating Structures are governed by the below ten guiding principles -

1. Include and Unleash Everyone

2. Practice Deep Respect for People and Local Solutions

3. Build Trust As You Go

4. Learn by Failing Forward

5. Practice Self-Discovery Within a Group

6. Amplify Freedom AND Responsibility

7. Emphasize Possibilities: Believe Before You See

8. Invite Creative Destruction To Enable Innovation

9. Engage In Seriously-Playful Curiosity

10. Never Start Without Clear Purpose

This model is what can be called as a microstructure and each microstructure has five design elements -

1. Structuring Invitation(the problem statement)

2. How Participation Is Distributed

3. How Groups Are Configured

4. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

5. Sequence and Allocate Time

These Structures are Simple, Expert-less, Result-focused, Rapid Cycling, Innovative, Inclusive, Multi-scale, Seriously fun, Self-spreading and Adaptable.

Some standard strategies which Liberating Structures proposes is below -

These Liberating Structures aim to address the below

Rather than going into details for all of them, let me note down the important points on how to use them. Note that, I have changed the sequence to group them logically together.

Rather than going into details for all of them, let me note down the important points which can help make a difference. Some of them are really good - for example, the combination of Panarchy and Ecocycle Planning is a really good one.

1. 1-2-4-All: Every individual shares his views, in groups of two, exchange views, in groups of four they discuss their views and as a whole team, they refine

2. 15% Solutions: Identify the 15% of overall scope where you can have absolute freedom and leverage it

3. Shift and Share: Rather than going for detailed presentations, establish booths where the team gets a quick introduction of the problem so that they can work on

4. Heard, Seen, Respected: Identify a time when you are not heard, seen or respected even when you talk and use the lessons to become more empathetic

5. Agree/Certainty Matrix: This is a two step process- the first identifies the degree of agreement between team members over the approach taken, second tells how does the solution fit in a Stacey Matrix thereby helping understand if the solution is a right fit. Note: Use Cynefin instead of Stacey Matrix.

Question Framing

1.     9-Whys: Ask Why up to nine times to challenge the proposition to get a complete clarity of the position

2. Wicked Questions: Ask contrasting questions in the template How is it that we are … and we are … simultaneously to bring ideological clarity.

3. What3 Debrief: Synopsize as What(Data), So What(Meaning, Assumptions, Conclusions) and Now What(Beliefs, Actions). Add a What If between So What and Now What.

4. 25:10 Crowdsourcing: Every individual should present an idea satisfying the criterion, If you were ten times bolder, what big idea would you recommend? What first step would you take to get started?. Each idea is ranked on a scale of 1 to 5 5 times(maximum total score 25), and the top ten are picked for further brainstorming

5. Min Specs: Identify only the absolute Must Dos and the Must Not Dos. Against each Must Do, ask the question, If we broke or ignored this rule, could we still achieve our purpose? Have another round of sifting against the question, If you followed all the Min Specs except this one, would you achieve your purpose?

6. Integrated-Autonomy: Change the focus from Either-Or to Both-And by asking the team to address both the counterpoints. Eg. How is it that we can be more integrated and more autonomous at the same time?

Consulting

1. Troika Consulting: Divide the team into groups of three - one acts as Client and the other two Consultants. He shares the problem, they give a solution. Do this multiple times so that everyone gets a chance to act as both a Client and a Consultant

2. Helping Heuristics: In groups of three with one member acting as client, one as coach and one as observer, the client shares something he is passionate about. While the observer notes the interaction, the coach reacts in a specific pattern based on the round

   1. Round 1: Quiet Presence: The coach accepts everything with compassionate listening

   2. Round 2: Guided Discovery: The coach accepts everything guiding inquiry for mutual discoveries

   3. Round 3: Loving Provocation: The coach interjects - advices, accepts or blocks as needed when the coach sees something the client doesn't see

   4. Round 4: Process Mindfulness: The coach and client accept all offers from each other while noticing how novel possibilities are amplified.

3. Wise Crowds: The client presents the problem before a wider group or consultants to solve. Some clarifications which can be raised include

   1. Why is this activity important to you and the organization?

   2. Does a story or a critical event that sums up your challenge come to mind?

   3. Is there any place where this problem is getting solved - either in full or in parts but is unnoticed?

   4. Who needs to be included? How do they see or experience this challenge?

   5. If all your work on this challenge burned down last night, what parts would you rebuild?

   6. So far, what methods did you use and what prototypes did you develop?

   7. What actions have you already taken which you wish could undo or redo?

   8. What can be done now to take the next step?

   9. What Liberating Structure can we use here?

4. Conversation Cafe: Discuss a problem in four rounds - two rounds for talking, one for conversation and the last, to share takeaways

5. User Experience Fishbowl: A core group shares it's experiences on a problem statement to outer groups. They share everything - the good, the bad and the ugly. The outer groups go back, analyze and come back with questions for the next round of Fishbowl.

6. Celebrity Interview: A talk show with a subject matter expert

7. What I Need From You: Give a problem statement in the template What I need from you is .... It can have only four answers - yes, no, I will try, whatever: Whatever indicates that the request is too vague

8. Appreciative Interviews: Ask the participants to tell a narrative covering the areas - status quo, barriers, action, surprises, reversals and discoveries using a question like 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?

9. Simple Ethnography: The core group members working on a problem are ethnographers and people shadow them to learn what they are doing

10. Open Space: In a large group, a few form small groups to discuss a topic and a place to connect and brainstorm. Everyone is invited to contribute.

11.  Improptu Networking: Form random groups and ask the question, What big challenge do you bring to this gathering? What do you hope to get from and give this group or community?

12. Generative Relationships STAR: Form groups of four and ask the group to self assess based on four parameters

    1. S Separateness: How diverse are we as a group? Do we draw out our diverse perspectives among members?

       1. The amount of diversity in perspective, expertise, and background among group members

    2. T Tuning: How well are we in tune with one another?

       1. The level of listening deeply, reflecting, and making sense of challenges together

    3. A Action: How much do we act together?

       1. The number of opportunities to act on ideas or innovate with group members

    4. R Reason to work together: How important is it that we work together? How clear is our purpose?

       1. The benefits that are gained from working together

Detailed Analysis

1. TRIZ: To do a deeper analysis of the topic, ask these three questions

   • 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.

   • 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.

   • Go through the items on your second list and decide what first steps will help you stop what you know creates undesirable results.

2. Discovery and Action Dialog: Try to answer the below sequence of questions to assess a problem

   • How do you know when problem X is present?

   • How do you contribute effectively to solving problem X? How does it affect you and how does it affect others?

   • What prevents you from doing this or taking these actions all the time?

   • Do you know anybody who is able to frequently solve problem X and overcome barriers? What behaviors or practices made their success possible?

   • Do you have any ideas?

   • What needs to be done to make it happen? Any volunteers?

   • Who else needs to be involved?

3. Improv Prototyping: Break a problem into successful and unsuccessful chunks and try to build a new and full prototype only with the successful chunks.

4. Drawing Together: If you can't express your thoughts, draw the story. The story will have only five symbols and no words -

   • Circle = wholeness;

   • Rectangle = support;

   • Triangle = goal;

   • Spiral = change;

   • Star person = relationship

     

5. Design Storyboards: Create a detailed plan in a template something like this. Use Nine Whys to understand if an item needs to be placed in the chart.

   

6. Social Network Webbing: Create a group of contacts - and ask others to add to that. Classify the diagram into core groups and peripheries through which you can contact other groups

7. Critical Uncertainties: Create a grid with two axes(impacting parameters) —X & Y—with a “more of <—  —> less of” continuum to be represented on each axis for the each of the factor impacting the ability to operate successfully.

8. Ecocycle Planning: Plot all activities on an Ecocycle Map and identify what needs to be pruned through the question “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?” Create a First Action Plan for those which should be removed(Rigidity Trap area) and which needs more focus(Poverty Trap area)

   

9. Panarchy: Define a set of levels and pick a level to solve a problem. Identify how the levels above and below are impacted by what you are doing. Explore bottlenecks and opportunities and prune them using Ecocycle Planning

   

10. Purpose to Practice: Create a Purpose Statement and build the P2P map. It's a living document.