Liberating Structures: Engaging Everyone in Change Plexus Institute Jeff Cohn Lisa Kimball

1. Liberating Structures: Engaging Everyone in Change Plexus Institute Jeff Cohn Lisa Kimball Jeff@plexusinstitute.orglisa@plexusinstitute.org

2. Structure of Speed Networking • Space • Open • Standing face to face • Participation • Everybody at once and at the same time + equal time for all • Configurations • Pairs • Strangers preferably 4. Time allocation • 2 minutes per person • 3 rounds 5. Conceptual Framework • 1 issue question • 1 solution question

3. Components of all Structures • Space: physical arrangements • Participation: who is included, how, when and how much • Configurations:sizes and composition of groups • Time allocation: time spent in each configuration • Conceptual framework: a concept, a question or a purpose that informs the interaction

5. The Science of Change

7. Awareness Iceberg 4% known to top leaders 9% known to middle managers 74% known to supervisors 100% known to the front line Action unleashed @ the front line Internationally acclaimed study conducted by Sidney Yoshida, initially presented at the International Quality Symposium

9. Tactic #1 Change the Conversation

10. Changing the Conversation Changes…. EVERYTHING

11. Decentralized, Small Talk • Autonomous • Unconnected • Unstable relationships • Diverse • Random Polite Conversation

12. Centralized, Ordered Discussion Facilitated, Bureaucratic Talk • Largely dependent • Connected by power/permission • Fixed relationships • Uniform • Top down, center out

13. Distributed, Generative Talk Messy, Loose, Complex & Creative • Largely autonomous contributions • Connected by simple rules that guide local relationships • Diverse and uniform participation • Growth from any point in any direction • Order arises out of local interaction & conversation

14. Jamming happens spontaneously, whenever two or three or (best case scenario) a dozen or more are joined in common purpose , common practice, and common desire to raise the bar for everyone involved.

15. Liberating Structures NO • Best practices imported • Top-down, outside-in • Deficit based “What’s wrong here?” • Technical, analytic “expert” training • “Mountain-top” personal development • Buy-in and alignment strategies to overcome resistance in sub-groups YES • Self-discovery in groups • Down-up, inside-out • Asset based “What’s right here?” • Simple methods for mundane & sublime challenges • Personal development within a complex social milieu • Attracting and inviting ownership + unleashing the wisdom of diverse crowds

16. New Option for Transformation • Same people • Same incentives • Same organizational structure • NEW CONVERSATIONS

17. Tactic #2 Change How You Solve Problems

21. The Powerof Positive Deviance Solutions before our very eyes • Every community • Certain individuals/groups • Uncommon practices/behaviors • Better solutions • Same resources

22. Focus on PracticeRather than Knowledge “It’s easier to ACT your way into a new way of THINKING, than to THINK your way into a new way of ACTING”

23. Problem Solving Approaches Transformational Flows from identification and analysis of successful solution to problem solving Traditional Flows from problem analysis towards solution Actual Problem Parameters Fixed Solution Space Actual Problem Parameters Expanded Solution Space Expanded Solution Space Perceived Problem Parameters Perceived Problem Parameters Perceived Problem Parameters Actual Problem Parameters

24. TRADITIONAL Externally Fueled (by “experts” or internal authority) Top-down, Outside-in Deficit Based “What’s wrong here?” Begins with analysis of underlying causes of PROBLEM Solution Space limited by perceivedproblem parameters Triggers Immune System “defense response” Transformational Internally Fueled (by “people like us”, same culture and resources) Down-up, Inside-out Asset Based “What’s right here?” Begins with analysis of demonstrably successful SOLUTIONS Solution Space enlarged through discovery of actual parameters Bypasses Immune System (solution shares same “DNA” as host) TRADITIONAL VS TRANSFORMATIONAL PROBLEM SOLVING APPROACHES

25. What do you know about engaging staff so development efforts “stick?” What do YOU do to make PD efforts stick? What keeps you from doing that 100% of the time? Has anyone found a way to get around those obstacles? How? What ideas would you like to try to get around current barriers? What would it take to make that happen? Who else would need to be involved? What action(s) are you willing to commit to?

26. Picking a Place to Start Through addressing a discrete part of a complex problem (.. a fractal of the whole) … we impact all the underlying structural issues.

27. Key Attributes of a Good Fit • Behavior change of others needed • Larger community cares about challenge • Global practices not spreading locally • Challenge widely distributed • Pockets of positive change in local settings • Intractable, inducing “pain” • Group of leaders interested in trying something new/bold

28. Where do you find MRSA in Hospitals? Everywhere!

29. All invited and included

30. The Palmer Method

31. Spreading effective practices, creating new practices and deciding what changes they need to make personally and together Discovering which of their practices can play a role in the transmission of MRSA Engagement, engagement, engagement! …in an array of proven social change processes, featuring Positive Deviance, designed to engage everyone in:

32. One of the most powerful lessons for leaders is to generate simple or minimum rules rather than maximum specifications. This fosters innovation … solutions …evolution. Less is more.

33. Simple & Complex Approaches • Simple • Plan then act • Create explicit plans • Look for agreement & a clear outcome • Limit type of actions • Drive implementation & set targets • Complex • “Act-learn-plan” at the same time • Look for divergence • Use multiple actions & min specs • Tune to the edge • Build on what emerges & grows

34. Learning how to “flow” with & “tune to” change in complex systems W. Edwards Deming suggested that everyone -- from the CEO to the front line worker -- has influence over 15% of their system. The other 85% is beyond their discretionary control. Recognize that you have 15% discretionary influence… it may sound small but you can use it to make a difference that makes a difference. The 15% Principle

35. Allow new information into the system Work with organizational boundaries Connect systems to environment Question differences Challenge assumptions Take advantage of chance and serendipity Adapted from: Jeffrey Goldstein, The Unshackled Organization “How To” Disturb & Amplify