LIBERATING STRUCTURESBig Change through Small Interventions

Lisa Kimball

CBODNSilver Spring, MD

April 29 20111

Plexus Institute

www.plexusinstitute.org

Structure of Speed Networking

1. Space– Open– Standing face to face

2. Participation– Everybody at once

and at the same time + equal time for all

3. Configurations– Pairs– Strangers preferably

4. Time allocation– 2 minutes per person– 3 rounds

5. Conceptual Framework– 1 issue question– 1 solution question

Components of all Structures

1. Space: physical arrangements2. Participation: who is included, how,

when and how much3. Configurations: sizes and composition

of groups4. Time allocation: time spent in each

configuration5. Conceptual framework: a concept, a

question or a purpose that informs the interaction

The Importance of Engagement

• Widens the circle of involvement• Involves the whole system• Increases commitment and energy• Connects people to each other and to ideas• Generates better solutions• Creates communities for action• Turns meetings into working sessions• Speeds up implementation

Problems & Opportunities Awareness Iceberg

4% known to top leaders

9% known to middle managers

74% known to supervisors

100% known to the front line

Internationally acclaimed study conducted by Sidney Yoshida, initially presented at the International Quality Symposium

Action unleashed @ the front line

New Option for Transformation

→ Same people→ Same incentives→ Same organizational structure→ NEW CONVERSATIONS

Relationships and CONVERSATIONS

Decentralized, Small Talk

• Fully autonomous• Unconnected• Unstable

relationships• Diverse or Uniform• Random growth

Polite Conversation

Centralized, Ordered Discussion

• Largely dependent• Connected by

power/permission• Fixed relationships• Uniform• Growth from center

out

Facilitated, Bureaucratic Talk

Distributed, Generative Talk

• 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

Messy, Loose, Complex & Creative

Methods that shift interactions

• Stories versus PPT• Listening, Silence• Big Questions• Improvising• Diversity of formats:

pairs, small groups, large groups

• Focus on purpose• Inviting participation,

minimizing status differences

• Rapid learning & prototyping cycles

• Feedback loops• Network weaving• Innovative ways to harvest

output• Natural environment• Movement, Fun• Social elements, mixing

participants

Liberating Structures Some examples of an expanding, adaptable mash-up of open source methods

1. Appreciative Interviews2. Agreement / Uncertainty Matrix3. Creative Destruction via TRIZ4. Wicked Questions5. Min Specs6. Chunking via Rapid Prototyping7. Improv8. 15% Solutions9. Open Space Technology 10. Ecocycle Sifting & Gathering11. Panarchy: Cross-Scale Change12. Conversation Café Dialogue13. Discovery & Action Dialogue14. Wise Crowds Group

Consultation

15. Smart Network Mapping16. Generative Relationships17. Purpose-To-Practice Design18. Scenario Planning Critical

Uncertainties19. Impromptu Speed Networking20.1-2-4-Whole Group21.Troika Consulting22.Fishbowl Sessions – “What I

Need From You”23.Celebrity Interview24.5 Whys & 10 Hows25. Storyboarding Agendas26. Positive Deviance

We search for the minimum structure to liberate the maximum innovation

Attributes of LS MethodsWhat Other Methods Come To Mind?

• Simple & fast to learn• Requires very little

explanation or theory• Draws out insight from

interaction• Works with groups, units,

or the whole organization• Focuses attention on

relationship patterns• Minimally structured for

maximum liberation• Generates surprises &

novelty without central control (light coordination only)

• Invites seriously-playful participation

• Appeals to people in diverse roles

• Generates very short- and long-term results

• Illuminates an edge or paradoxical territory

• Identifies and builds on assets that exist now

• Invites inclusion & more diverse voices

• Works with internal and external customers

Liberating Structures Workshop• 30 + different methods• Single organization: all layers

together, top to bottom• Community with shared

interests• Ideal 2.5 days + 2 days of

coaching sessions• Experiential, “try it NOW”• Intense, Rapid Cycles• Fun, Seriously!• Complexity Theory – little or

none, adjustable to interests• Focus on real challenges,

mundane and sublime

Typical Workshop AgendaDAY I – 8:30am-5:00pm DAY II – 8:30am-5:00pm DAY III – 8:30am-1:30pm

Welcome and Purpose[] Impromptu NetworkingQuick Rounds of Conversation With “Strangers” [20][] Introducing LS and Purpose[] Appreciative InterviewsCreating Momentum by Building On and Designing With “What Works Right Now” [45] twist: flip a problem into an appreciative search for solutions[] Agreement)(Certainty Matching MatrixMatching Simple, Complicated, & Complex Approaches to Specific Challenges [30] self-reflection, then pairs, then place challenges on BIG wall chart. Group review.[] Ecocycle PlanningEngaging Groups in Growing and Sifting Their Portfolio of Activities [60] What do you notice about the distribution? Any surprises in the Poverty or Rigidity Traps?[] 15% SolutionsNoticing and Using the Influence, Discretion and Power Individuals Have Right Now Twist: move one challenge (from the Ecocycle) forward with a 15% Solution, then Troika consult[] Lunch [] Making Space with TRIZDesigning a Perfectly Adverse System to Make Space [45-60] Themes: important customer or patient interaction[] Flocking CAS [15] How do innovations spread?[] Work-In-Progress Group Consultation Tapping the “Wisdom of Crowds” To Solve Problems Together [60] Possibilities: a big launch, coordination across silos or boundaries, a chronic/messy problem[] Design Party Debrief SessionReflecting on Your Design-In-Progress and Making Adjustments-As-You-Go (what? so what? now what? among a small group in the front of the room… link to ladder of inference)[] Social Time and Dinner Together

[] Conversation Café DialogueMaking Sense of and Forming Consensual Hunches about Big Challenges [60] Themes: using LS in your work…[] Graphic StoryBoardingIllustrating a Design Process for Key Meetings [10] [] Wicked Questions Framing a Paradoxical Challenge That Engages Everyone’s Imagination [30] Link to Café: how can we confidently use Liberating Structures without knowing what will unfold?[] Positive Deviance: Discovery & Action Dialogue Self-Discovering Solutions To Big Challenges Hidden Right Before Your Eyes [60-90] Theme: effective meetings or…[] Min Specs/Simple RulesUnleashing Innovation & Action by Specifying only “Must-do’s” & “Must-not-do’s” [30] Start with why, why, why… to clarify purpose, then sift activities. Theme to be selected… [] Smart NetworksWeaving Social Connections and Informal Networks To Develop & Advance Practice [20] draw personal maps by hand, review SmartMaps, then Webbing: who do you go to for expertise… inspiration… permission?...[] Lunch[] Work-In-Progress Group Consultation Tapping the “Wisdom of Crowds” To Solve Problems Together [60] recruit 2nd storyteller, focus on consulting skills[] Chunking, User Research, PrototypingTapping Tacit and Latent Knowledge in Seriously-Playful Rapid Cycles [80] Improv theme: difficult conversation with key client or peer [] Design Party Debrief SessionsReflecting on Your Design-In-Progress and Making Adjustments-As-You-Go [20][] Social Time and Dinner Together

[] Open Space TechnologyLiberating Inherent Creativity and Leadership In Large Groups with an Action-Orientation [120] Application of Liberating Structures to an important challenges for ABC organization[] Generative RelationshipsUnderstanding Patterns in Relationships that Create Surprising, New Sources of Value Pick a key group you are in right now and apply the STAR self-assessment… then action steps. [] Mad Tea PartyPaired Self-Reflection in Fast Cycles [20] in Spanish, English, Swedish, and Portuguese. Use when energy gets low.[] Lunch Together and Closing

Optional “improv” activities & simulations:Flocking CASWebbing or CoPsLeader/Follower F L O WBlocking/Accepting Offers~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Day IV and VOne-to-One Coaching Sessions as requestedPost Workshop design debrief

Workshop Objectives~ Experience how Liberating Structures transform interactions with your peers, students, patients~ Begin preparing next steps for ongoing use in everyday practice with customers, peers, and suppliers~ Discover how Liberating Structures are congruent with the emerging sciences of complex and/or biological systems

Learning Approach

• Experiential learning with a minimal amount of “telling” and a maximum of self-discovery

• Methods are introduced and woven into interactions around key challenges selected by participants

• We draw out and build on the direct experience of everyone in the room

• Goal: Everyone walks out thinking, “I can do this myself!”

• We search for the minimum structure to liberate the maximum innovation

Power in Combining Elements!

Immersion in a large # of simple self-organizing methods

A mix of top, middle & front line participants (+ customers) Invitation to try many

simple methods to your challenges immediately

Focus on complex challenges that require diverse participation to make progress

Rapid cycles jointly shaping solutions & insights in-the-moment

One on one coaching to launch immediate use in local context

Why So Many, So Fast?

• Every person is likely to find two or three LS they like and want to start using. (A few people will find many)

• LS are modular. They can be mashed-up and spur new inventions very quickly.

• Participants see patterns across the LS and gain confidence with experience.

• Quickly using them demonstrates LS are forgiving. You can get great results without tight fidelity.

• Rapid cycles show that ideas/answers come from many sources and levels, not all from the top.

“After several other conference sessions with one or two individuals dominating the talk and focusing on their issues onlywe were able to accomplish much more in a day, than in the previous two days prior.”

- Division Chief, US Army Cadet Command

“After several other conference sessions with one or two individuals dominating the talk and focusing on their issues onlywe were able to accomplish much more in a day, than in the previous two days prior.”

- Division Chief, US Army Cadet Command

ResultsLiberating Structures help groups liberate energy, tap into collective intelligence, be creatively adaptable, and build on each other's ideas to get results.

Liberating Structures help groups liberate energy, tap into collective intelligence, be creatively adaptable, and build on each other's ideas to get results.

Bias for Action“I didn’t think we were going to be able to pull together so many different departments that had not been at the same meeting before without spending hours making presentations to explain what we were all doing. I was amazed that we just got right to work! By the end of the day we were on the same page and had a way forward on things it would have taken us weeks of meetings to accomplish.”

- Program Manager, DC Office of the State Superintendant of

Education

The process designs come from theories and principles about self-organization, diffusion of innovation, and change.

Liberating Structures Defined

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

Liberating Structures

Big Change through Small Interventions

www.plexusinstitute.org

Lisa Kimballlisa@plexusinstitute.org