Liberating Structures

1. Liberating Structures

2. Liberating Structures is a collection of powerful team exercises curated by Henri Lipmanowiczand Keith McCandless (www.liberatingstructures.com). The following slides are abbreviated instructions and some modified contents to their original work. For original instructions, please visit their website. Liberating Structures is distributed under a Creative Commons license. Buy Henri and Keith’s wonderful book and contribute to their incredible work. Liberating Structures

3. 1-2-4-All Smarter team thinking 15 min • Think alone together ^ parallel processing • Challenge question posed by facilitator • Individually: Think quietly “How would you handle this situation? What ideas or actions come to your mind?” Write it down. (1 min) • In pairs: Share ideas from self-reflection with a partner, build on it, generate more ideas together. (2 min) • In groups of 4: Share and develop ideas from your pair in foursomes. Notice similarities and differences. (4 min) • All: Each group, share to whole group one idea that stood out from your group conversation. (8 min) • Repeat or carry on to solutioning (e.g. What, So What, Now What – W3) Liberating Structures

4. What, So What, Now What? (W³) Smarter team thinking 45 min Form groups of 5-7 people. “What?”: Think and take notes of “What happened?” (facts and observations), individually (2 min) and then with group (8 min). Share individual group findings with whole group. (5 min) “So what?”: Think and take notes of “Why is that important? What does it mean? What assumptions are behind that meaning? And from those assumptions, what do we conclude?” Individually (5 min) and then with group (8 min). Share individual group findings with whole group. (5 min) “Now what?”: Think and take notes of “Now what? What actions make sense?” Individually (2 min) and then with group (8 min). Share individual group findings with whole group. (5 min) Ladder of Inference Now What? Actions So What? Beliefs Conclusions Assumptions What? Meanings Data Liberating Structures

5. 15% Solutions Smarter team thinking 40 min In connection to [the challenge], what is your 15%? Where do you have discretion and freedom to act? What can you do without more resources or authority? On your own: generate ideas, make a list. (5 min) In groups of [2, 3 or] 4, share ideas, one person at a time. (3 min per person) Group members, provide consultation to each other (group consults to one person, rotate). Ask clarifying questions and offer advice. (5 min per consultee) [Share findings] Liberating Structures

6. 25/10 Crowd Sourcing Smarter team thinking 30 min Rapid Idea Generation Exercise Top 10 ideas that get closest to 25 points Write your ONE bold, original idea on an index card. You can talk to each other and find out what ideas others are thinking – so your idea doesn’t overlap. Form pairs. Exchange cards. Exchange thoughts. Score the card in your hand, 1 low, 5 high. Form another pair. Exchange cards and share thoughts again. Score the card, 1 to 5. After repeating the exercise for 5 rounds, tally up the last card in hand. Out of max 25 points, how many points does the last idea in hand have? Whole group shares top 10 ideas with highest scores. Liberating Structures

7. Min Specs Smarter team thinking 30 min When you MVP, do MVP. Is what you’re developing really an MVP? Strip it down to the Min Specs. Everything else is waste. State the challenge objective (e.g. build working product X with key function X’ that will validate customer needs for the function). 1-2-4-All. List up all the things (“requirements”) you think should go in to product X. This is the Max Spec. 1-2-4-All. Test each item on Max Spec: “Can we violate this requirement and still achieve our objective?” If yes, strike it off the list. Dot-vote strike-offs. Inspect the remaining requirements. Is this the Min Spec? Do we have a shared understanding for our MVP? If yes, commit. (No “yes but.”) Example Requirements Liberating Structures

8. Improv Prototyping Smarter team thinking 30 min We have a chronic challenge – a recurring problem X. Let’s play it out and see if we can invent solutions. Volunteers, come up to the stage and demonstrate the challenge/problem as a play. Observers, take notes. Try to break out the play into chunks so that we can see the problem in smaller pieces. 1-2-4-all, find better ways of handling the problem. New set of volunteers, team up and put together a play incorporating one of the improvement ideas. Multiple teams and division of labor welcome: scenario writer, director, actors etc. Actors, come up to the stage and play. Repeat from step 2 until we have a winner idea that we’d want to try for real. Liberating Structures

9. Social Network Webbing Smarter team thinking 60 min A core working group exercise for finding out who to reach out and invite into the project or initiative. Create a legend of all the key groups in the network needed to achieve our 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. (2 min) “What people do we know that are active in this work?” Create a Post-it with each of their names. Arrange the Post-its based on each person’s degrees of separation from each core group member. (10 min) “Who else do we want to include in this work?” Brainstorm and create Post-its for other people we would like to include. Build the map of Post-its as a web with a core and periphery structure (mimicking the actual and desired spread of participation). Individuals in this group may be our friends' friends. New legend categories and colors may be needed as the webbing expands. (10 min) Step back and ask, “Who knows whom? Who has influence and expertise? Who can block progress? Who can boost progress?” Illustrate the answers with connecting lines. (15 min) Devise strategies to: 1) invite, attract, and “weave” new people into their work; 2) work around blockages; and 3) boost progress. (10 min) Liberating Structures

10. What I Need From You (WINFY) Organizational discovery 60 min • A smart gathering to solve cross-team, cross-functional dependencies • All teams get together in a big room. Form functional clusters. Make space in the middle of the cluster (the “fishbowl”). This will be space for spokespersons from each functional cluster to meet. Each team (functional cluster) use 1-2-4-All to make list of top needs from each other teams. Express in “What I need from you is _____” sentences. Select top two needs, send spokesperson into the fishbowl. All spokerspersons gather in the fishbowl, present the needs one-by-one. No answers yet. Back in the functional cluster, each team figures out answer to each needs from other teams; answers only in one of four of Yes, No, Will Try, or Whatever. Spokespersons gather back in fishbowl, delivers one of four answers. No discussion, no elaboration. • Debrief with W3 • If too much is unresolved or unclear, one more round. Refine for more clear and concrete needs. • Variation: Do as individual exercise (e.g. Scrum teams) Liberating Structures

11. Simple Ethnography Empathetic learning 90 min to full day Observe: Identify and visit sites to observe and people to shadow. Silently observe and take notes. (10 min ~ 3 hours) Interview: Select behaviors observed and ask the individuals what they were feeling and doing as they engaged in the behavior. (20 min ~ 1 hours) Ethnographers reconvene and share findings (with 1-2-4-All etc.). Find patterns and exceptional behaviors. (15 min ~ 60 min) Ethnography (from Greek ethnos "folk, people, nation“ and grapho“I write") is the systematic study of people and cultures. Liberating Structures

12. User Experience Fishbowl Empathetic learning 45 min Imagine someone’s giving Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger a lift to the airport. The car is stuck in traffic. The lucky driver gets all the time to ask questions to the Oracle and his legendary right hand man. Wouldn’t you want to hear the conversation going in the car? Experts sit in the middle, with one empty seat. This is the fishbowl. Everyone else, the observers, sit outside of the fishbowl, around in a circle. Questions are crowdsourced from the observers. One observer comes into the fishbowl to ask the question. Observers can take turns coming into the fishbowl. Experts answer to the question to the questioner, inside the fishbowl. Not to the audience. Observers quietly listen to the dialogue, outside of the fishbowl. When all questions are answered or time’s up, debriefing with 1-2-4-all and W3 (What? So What, Now What?). Liberating Structures

13. Celebrity Interview Empathetic learning 60 min • Don’t let your guest speaker do a boring lecture and PowerPoint presentation. Host a talk show instead! • Interviewer welcomes and introduces the guest 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. (10–20 min) • Interviewer makes closing comments, thanks the celebrity. (1 min) Liberating Structures

14. Troika Consulting Empathetic learning 40 min Powerful peer coaching in trios Form a group of 3. In each round, one participant is the “client,” and the others are “consultants.” Individually, think of what you would like to be consulted. (1 min) First client shares consulting topic/question. Consultants asks clarifying question to client. (3 min) Client turns around with his/her back facing the consultants. Consultants speak to each other and generate ideas, suggestions, coaching advice. Client silently listens and takes note with back facing. (7 min) Client turns around and shares what was most valuable about the experience. (3 min) Rotate. Liberating Structures

15. Wise Crowds Empathetic learning 20 min • Break the inefficiency of group thinking with wise crowd consulting • One person from the team volunteers to become the “client.” The rest are “consultants.” • 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. Client does not speak, just listens. • Collectively, the consultants discuss what advice and recommendations to give. (8 min) • The client provides feedback to the consultants: what was useful and what he or she takes away. (2 min) Liberating Structures

16. Appreciative Interviews (AI) Empathetic learning 60 min Appreciative Inquiry is an Organization Development approach that focuses on the positives of “what’s working” and “what we really care,” instead of the deficiencies and “problems to be fixed” in organizations. In pairs: Take turns conducting an interview and telling a success story. Interviewer takes not on what made the success possible. (10 min each) In groups of 4: Each person retells the story of his/her pair partner. Listeners pay attention to patterns of success and take note. Summarize group findings on flip board. (5 min each for story retelling, and 5 min for summarizing.) Individual groups share findings with whole group. Facilitator asks to whole group, “How are we investing in these areas that foster success?” and “What can we do more to foster further success?” 1-2-4-All, and findings summarized again. Liberating Structures

17. Helping Heuristics Empathetic learning 60 min • Practice progressive helping – 3 styles of interaction and an integrated approach. • Form a group of 3. Assign roles: client, coach and observer. • During every round the person in the role of client shares a challenge he or she is passionate about. The coach responds in a sequence of patterns that is different for each round as follows. The observer pays close attention and takes notes. • Quiet Presence: Coach compassionately and quietly, without interjecting comments, listens to client. (Heard, Seen, Respected – HSR, 3 min) • Guided Discovery: Coach inquires and picks up the positive aspects of the client’s challenge, e.g. what went well, what he/she really cares for. (Appreciative Inquiry, 3 min) • Loving Provocation: Coach interjects advice, accepting and blocking as needed when the coach sees something that the client does not see. (3 min) • Process Mindfulness: Coach and client actively engage in a dialogue, using all three approaches of listening, affirming and challenging. (3 min) • Debrief: Observer shares observation, coach and client shares experience and findings. (5 min) • Rotate Liberating Structures

18. Drawing Together Empathetic learning 45 min • TOGETHER – draw YOUR STORY with just 5 SYMBOLS. • Individually, tell a story about a challenge you face, or a common challenge, using only five symbols and no words. Everybody draws their story, together at the same time. • First draft: Combine the symbols to create the first draft of your story, your “journey” of working on a challenge or an innovation. Remember, no words, just symbols. • Second draft: Create a second draft by refining your story with dramatized sizes, placements and colors. • Form a group of 4: The person who has done the drawing does not speak. The rest of the group interprets the drawings and shares thoughts and discoveries. • “Together, what do the drawings reveal? 1-2-4-All debrief. • Circle = wholeness • Rectangle = support • Triangle = goal • Spiral = change • Star person = relationship Liberating Structures

19. Heard, Seen, Respected (HSR) Empathetic learning 60 min This is a dedicated exercise to experience how difficult simple listening, without trying to fix anything or make any judgments, is, and how rewarding it is when attentively heard, seen and respected. In pairs: Each person takes turns sharing a story about NOT BEING HEARD, SEEN OR RESPECTED. Listen without interruptions other than asking questions like “What else?” or “What happened next?”(7 min each) Partners share with one another the experiences of listening and storytelling: “This is what it felt like telling my story.” “This is what was happening inside me when I was listening to your story.” As groups of 4: Share reflections. Identify patterns of behavior. Think of the significance of those patterns. Summarize. As a whole group: DAD, 25/10 etc. to come up with ideas that will help improving the quality of listening and tuning in to each other. Liberating Structures

20. Nine Whys Empathetic learning 20 min • The challenge question: • [What matters to you most when…?] • Why is that important to you? Let’s dig in. • Form pairs. Ask the challenge question. Then ask “Why is that important to you?” Keep on asking “Why? Why? Why?..,” nine times (not five!). 10 min. • If your partner gets stuck or goes circular, try non-why questions too. “Does a story come to mind?” • At the bell, switch sides. Non-why question examples Liberating Structures

21. TRIZ Organizational discovery 60 min • Let go of what you know, make space for innovation. Get rid of bad habits with TRIZ. • Form groups of 8 people. • Think of what can be the most unwanted result imaginable with respect to your top strategy or objective. Make a first list of all the things you can do to ensure that you achieve this worst possible result. 1-2-4-All. (15 min) • Make a second list of all the things that are currently being done that resembles the items of the first list. 1-2-4-All. (15 min) • Determine for each item on the second list what first steps can be taken to help stop these unwanted activities, behaviors, procedures. Use e.g. 1-2-4-All, 25/10 Crowd Sourcing, 15% Solutions. (15 min) • Do we have shared understandings for next steps? If Yes, commit. (No Yes-but.) TRIZ: TeoriyaResheniyaIzobretatelskikhZadatch, or Theory of Inventive Problem Solving. Originated in the USSR in 1946. Liberating Structures

22. Discovery & Action Dialogue (DAD) Organizational discovery 60 min • We have a chronic challenge – a recurring problem X. • Let’s find Positive Deviant behaviors and practices that • will help us solve this problem. • Form groups of 5-7 people. One person please volunteer as Scribe. • Facilitator will read out the following 7 questions. Talk within your group to share your thoughts. We can use the Talking Stick so that everyone has the chance to contribute. Scribe takes notes on flip board. • How do you know when problem X is present? • How do you contribute effectively to solving problem X? • 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? • Scribes, share to the whole group the Positive Deviant behaviors and practices that emerged from your individual group’s findings. Liberating Structures

23. Ecocycle Planning Organizational discovery Individual 60 min, Group 3 hours Map out your entire portfolio of activities. Mature activities no longer producing value need to be creatively destructed. Identify activities that need to start or get more resources. This can be done as an individual or group exercise. Liberating Structures

24. Ecocycle Planning–IndividualExercise Organizational discovery 60 min Make a list of all of your activities that occupy your time using Post-it notes . Group tasks into stories, stories into epics, epics into themes, if necessary. Place the Post-it notes onto the Ecocycle map. Step back and digest the pattern of placements. Ask, “What activities do I need to creatively destroy or stop to move forward?” Ask, “What activities do I need to expand or start to move forward?” Create a first-action step for the items in the Rigidity Trap. Create a first-action step for the items in the Poverty Trap. Revisit in two weeks. Liberating Structures

25. Ecocycle Planning–GroupExercise Organizational discovery 3 hours Individually: For your working group (e.g., department, function, or whole company), make a list on Post-it notes all of the activities (projects, initiatives) that occupy your time. In pairs: Place the Post-it notes onto the group Ecocycle map. In groups of 4: Finalize the placement of activities on the group Ecocycle Map. Step back and digest the pattern of placements. Ask, “What activities do we need to creatively destroy or stop to move forward?” Ask, “What activities do we need to expand or start to move forward?” Ask, “What activities did we not reach a consensus on where to place on Ecocycle map?* Create a first-action step for the items in the Rigidity Trap, Poverty Trap, and the no-consensus zone, respectively. Use 25/10, Crowd Sourcing, 1-2-4-All etc. to come up with ideas and shared understanding. Debrief with W3 (What, So What, Now What?). Revisit in 3 months. Liberating Structures

26. Purpose-To-Practice (P2P) Organizational discovery 3 hours From espoused to practiced: vision, value, mission and purpose, revisited and aligned. • 1-2-4-All each Purpose, Principles, Participants, Structure and Practices. (15 min each, total 60 min) • Do a second round. Refine list. (60 min) • Agree on next steps with What, So What, Now What (W3, 45 min) • Do we have shared understanding? If yes, commit. (No yes-but) Liberating Structures

27. Wicked Questions Organizational discovery 30 min • What opposing-yet-complementary strategies do we need to pursue simultaneously in order to be successful? • The opposites and paradoxes: “How is it that we are … and we are … simultaneously?” • 1-2-4-All: Individually generate the opposites and paradoxes (3 min). Form pairs, compare notes, and generate more. Form a group of four, compare notes, consolidate if necessary, chose one best statement, share with whole group. • Do more rounds until no more ideas come out. • What do these statements tell about us? What’s amazing? What do we need to work on? How do these statements correlate to the Ecocycle map? • Examples • How is it that we are integrated yet autonomous? • How is that I amdedicated to work and dedicated to my family simultaneously? • Global fidelity & consistency vs local adaptation & creativity? Liberating Structures

28. Integrated~Autonomy Organizational discovery 90 min Either-or Dominate, or Compromise. Or Integrate? Embrace, accommodate and attend to the paradox and save the organization from “either-or” bipolar disorder and dysfunctional compromises. • Challenge question: “How is it that we can be more integrated and more autonomous at the same time?” 1-2-4: Fill A & C of worksheet by asking, “Where is there tension between our desire to standardize and the request for more customizing or autonomy?” Group of 4: Pick on activity from A & C and ask “What is the rationale for standardizing? What is the rationale for customizing (autonomy)?” 1-2-4: “Which actions boost both standardization (A) and customization (C)?” Group of 4: “What modifications, creative ideas and actions can we think of that will promote both A & C?” These ideas will be the basis of B. Refine, summarize and fill in B. 1-2-4-All: Prioritize B, the most promising actions that promote both integration and autonomy. Do we have shared understanding? If yes, commit. (And no, yes-but.) Liberating Structures

29. Agreement-&-Certainty Matrix Organizational discovery 60 min • Sort challenges into simple, complicated, complex, and chaotic domains. • Avoid solving problems with methods not adapted to the nature of the challenge. • In groups sharing a common challenge (4~7 people, e.g. Agile Scrum teams) • Individually: Write out on Post-it notes all current challenges. Categorize them as simple, complicated, complex, or chaotic. • 1-2-4-All: Place every challenge in the matrix based on the following two questions: • What is the degree of agreement among team members on the best way to address the particular challenge? • What is the degree of certainty and predictability among team members on the results and outcomes of the particular challenge? • What patterns do you see? Do any mismatches stand out that we should address? Liberating Structures

30. Generative Relationships (STAR) Organizational discovery 60 min • A small team exercise to self “diagnose and treat” teamwork. • Individually: For each STAR team value, place a dot along axes of individual compass sheets. • In pairs: Compare placements, look for consensus and differences, exchange thoughts. • Team: Plot everyone’s dots on team compass sheet. • Identify consensus and differences. Both discoveries are important, dig in. • What combination of patterns do you see? 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 • Team: Sum-up with e.g. W3 - What, So What, Now What?, 25/10 Crowd Sourcing, 15% Solutions. Do we have shared understandings for next steps? If Yes, commit. (No Yes-but.) How diverse are we as group? Separateness How important is it that we work together? Reason Tuning How well are we in tune with one another? Action How much do we act together? Liberating Structures

31. Impromptu Networking Build communities 12 min • Welcome to [session title]! • Share with your neighbor what brings you here today: • “I’m curious to learn today…” • Bell is set to 2 minutes. • Find a neighbor, share your story! • At the bell, switch sides and listen to their story. • At the next bell, find another neighbor. • Suggestion • Do you see patterns, similarities, common goals? • Any surprising, unique perspectives? Liberating Structures

32. Conversation Café Build communities 60 min • The conversation theme/topic for today is: • [Insert challenge and goal] • Form into groups of 5 to 7 people. • Together we will read out the Café Agreement. • One person from each group, please volunteer as host. • First round: With the talking stick, please share what you are thinking, feeling or doing about the theme/topic. 1 minute each, then pass around the talking stick. • Second round: With the talking stick, please share your thoughts and feelings after listening to everybody in your group. 1 minute each. • Third round: Open conversation. Host, please moderate as per Café Agreement. No talking stick required, but feel free to use if better. 20 to 40 minutes. • Fourth round: With the talking stick, each member please share your “takeaways.” 5 minutes each. • Whole group wrap up (e.g. What, So What, Now What? – W3) • Café Agreement • I will: • Suspend judgment • Respect each other • Seek to understand rather than persuade • Invite and honor opinions • Speak from my heart • Go for honesty & depth, but won’t go on and on. Give others the chance to speak. Liberating Structures

33. Open Space Technology Build communities 90 min to 3 days • In an Open Space conference, there’s no agenda set by the organizer. Participants self-organize and construct agendas on their own, around issues that important to them. • Conference opens. Law of Two Feet and Four Principles introduced. • Marketplace opens: participants propose topics plus a time and place for groups to meet. • Conveners facilitate the sessions. Groups develop recommendations and action plans. Notes are taken and published or posted. • Debrief, proceedings distributed, and closing. • From 90 minutes to 3 days, applicable to conferences of any size. • https://www.openspaceworld.com/ • Four Principles • Whoever comes is the right people. • Whatever happens is the only thing that could have. • Whenever it starts is the right time. • When it is over, it is over. • Law of Two Feet • If you find yourself in a session where you are not learning or contributing, use your two feet. Liberating Structures

34. Liberating Structures is a collection of powerful team exercises curated by Henri Lipmanowiczand Keith McCandless (www.liberatingstructures.com). The following slides are abbreviated instructions and some modified contents to their original work. For original instructions, please visit their website. Liberating Structures is distributed under a Creative Commons license. Buy Henri and Keith’s wonderful book and contribute to their incredible work. Liberating Structures