1. Liberating Structures
Leading & Innovating
by Including and Unleashing Everyone
Keith McCandless Social Invention Group
Henri Lipmanowicz

2. Impromptu Networking Power of loose connections, small things can make a big difference

3. What is a challenge you brought to this workshop? What do you
hope to get from
and contribute to
this group?
Find a partner…3-5 minutes sharing…
Then find another partner… then find another. 3

4. :::: Transforming Movements
Everyday Solutions ::
Big Projects
:::
Strategy & Design
:::: Transforming Movements
Liberating
Structures
Engaging everyone in shaping…

5. LS Design
Elements

6. Culture Eats
Strategy for Lunch
What is your
ground game?

7. This Is Not A Certification Course!
First experience is enough to get started using Liberating Structures
YOU will decide how to achieve mastery personally
LS are simple, powerful & subtle
LS are easy to copy and spread by word of mouth
Practice makes perfect
Henri Lipmanowicz & Keith McCandless

8. Attributes Of Complex Systems
Adaptable
Elements
Natural
Emergence &
Creativity
Min Specs /
Microstructures
You don't see something until
you have the right metaphor
to let you perceive it.
Thomas Kuhn
Order w/o
Central
Control
Embedded
Systems or Panarchy
Not Predictable
in Detail
Co-Evolution
Non-Linearity
Brenda Zimmerman (905)

9. 5 Conventional Microstructures
LS Palette
Wicked Q’s
What³ debrief
Min specs
Heard, seen, respected
What I need from you
Integrated autonomy
1-2-4-All
Appreciative interviews
Discovery and action dialogue
Improv prototyping
Drawing together
Open space
Critical uncertainties
Impromptu networking
TRIZ
Shift & share
Helping heuristics
Design storyboards
Generative relationships
Ecocycle
9-whys
15% solutions
25 : 10 crowdsourcing
Conversation café
Celebrity interview
Agree/certainty matrix
Panarchy
Troika consulting
Wise crowds
User experience fishbowl
Smart network webbing
Simple ethnography
Purpose to practice
LIBERATING STRUCTURES V 2.1
+ 33
5 Conventional Microstructures
There are 33 additional microstructures to replace or complement conventional practice. These are the icons to help you design. Each is a unique combination of 5 micro-organizing elements. Now, you can structure your work in a more inclusive way that generates better than expected results.
Designer: Lesley Jacobs

10. Redux Workshop A G E N D A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A G E N D A
Impromptu Networking
1-2-4 All
15% Solutions
Troika Consulting
Nine Whys
TRIZ
Ecocycle
What³ Debrief
Design StoryBoards
Social Network Webbing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11. Lean / OD HR Internal Consultants
Group Possibilities LS work best when there is a shared challenge with a local context
NGO Philanthropy
Justice
Health
Care
Schools
Business
Lean / OD HR Internal Consultants

12. 1-2-4-All Progressive, Rapid Cycle Conversation
What opportunities do you see for including and unleashing more people in addressing your challenge?
1-2-4-All Progressive, Rapid Cycle Conversation
Self-Reflection (no talking, jot down notes)
Pairs
Small groups of four
Whole group

13. Facilitator / Participants
Design Storyboarding
Topic
Goal
LS Micro-Structure
Why this LS?
Steps / Timing
Facilitator / Participants

14. 15% Solutions Noticing and Using the Influence, Discretion and Power Individuals Have Right Now What can YOU do now to address your challenge?

15. Troika Consulting Groups of three 1 minute reflection to prepare
5 minutes per person
Share your 15% Solutions—no long explanations!
Invite feedback and advice from your consultants… then turn your back on them
Switch to next person…

16. Distribute Participation
LS Design
Elements
LS: ________
Purpose, What is made possible…
Make an
Invitation
Distribute Participation
Configure
Groups
Arrange Space
Sequence &
Allocate Time

17. Henri Lipmanowicz & Keith McCandless
Brainstorm
When, where and how can you apply these Liberating Structures? Fit your answers into the Design Storyboard.
Henri Lipmanowicz & Keith McCandless

18. Storyboarding Components
Topic
Goal
LS Method
Why this LS?
Steps / Timing
Facilitator / Participants
Welcome, Introductions
Form working group, get acquainted
3 rounds in pairs, 5 minutes each
Carlos, all
Preparing to Launch Project
Make space for innovation
3 steps, 20 minutes each
Ginny, groups of 4 then whole group
Attracting Participation
Define and sharpen purpose
Two rounds of 1-2-4, 15 minutes each
Katie, then groups of four
Action Planning
Identify action, get started now
25 minutes for 5 rounds + action group formation

19. Attributes of LS What else in the world is a Liberating Structure
Attributes of LS What else in the world is a Liberating Structure? All
Simple: requires only a few minutes to introduce
Expert-less: beginners can succeed after a first experience
Results-focused: likely to generate better-than-expected, innovative results
Rapid cycling: fast iterative rounds are very productive
Inclusive: together, everyone is invited to shape next steps
Multi-scale: works for everyday solutions, big projects, strategy, and transforming movements
Seriously fun: boosts freedom & responsibility
Self-spreading: easy to copy without formal training

20. 9 Whys

21. Becoming Clear on Purpose
Ask, when working on _____, what do you do?
Why is it important to you?
First answer, “_______….” Hmmm, why is that important to you?
Second answer, “_______….” OK, if your dream came true last night, what would be different today?
Keep asking, “Why… why… why… until you make a discovery about your partner’s bedrock purpose. Then switch roles.
Move to a group of four. Discuss similarities and differences. A community Purpose may materialize!
1-2-4-All schedule:
1 minute quiet reflection, generating an activities list
10 minutes in a pair (asking why-why-why questions), 5 minutes each
5 minutes in a a small group (4), then,
4 minutes debriefing, “What happened?” Did a community purpose emerge in your conversation?
In the last 4 minutes we ask for three reflections and for any community purpose suggestions.

22. Two Attributes of a Common Powerful Purpose
A personal touchstone for you as an individual
Fundamental justification for the existence of your work to the larger community
A powerful purpose attracts participation, including and unleashing everyone

23. WHY? HOW? Questions Hierarchy WHAT? Can you give me an example or tell
me a story?
What did you notice?
Small Questions: Many,
Distributed
Answers
What happened?
What else?
What do we need
to stop doing?
What seems possible now?
WHAT?
Do you see a pattern?
Does it make a difference?
What is taking shape?
What first steps can
you take now?
Where do you have
freedom to act?
HOW?
What made your
success possible?
Who needs
to be included?
Is there anyone you know
who is able to overcome
these challenges? How?
What do you
hope can happen
for us in this work?
WHY?
Why is this
important to you?
Why is this
important to
the organization?
Big Questions:
Few, Tight
Answers

24. What Is NOT A Purpose? To brainstorm To get buy-in To get alignment
To share information …

25. TRIZ Designing a Perfectly Adverse System to Make Space for Innovation
Begin by defining a VERY unwanted result of your work together
Superbugs
Falls
Med errors
Spiritual needs neglected 25

26. TRIZ – First Step
First alone, then in your small group, compile a list of todo’s in answer to:
How can I/we reliably create a very unwanted result…?
You never do anything with what you have learned here?
5 minutes
Go wild!
Adapted in part from Randy Benson, Benson Consulting

27. TRIZ - Second Step
First alone, then in your group, go down your list and ask:
“Is there anything we are doing that resembles in any shape or form todo’s on our list?”
Make a second list of those activities & talk about their impact
Be unforgiving
5 minutes

28. TRIZ – Third Step How am I and how are we going to stop it?
First alone, then in your group, compile the list of what needs to be stopped or changed
Take one item at a time & ask:
How am I and how are
we going to stop it?
What is your first move?
Be as concrete as you can
Identify who else is needed to stop the activity
10 minutes

29. Henri Lipmanowicz & Keith McCandless
Ecocycle
Henri Lipmanowicz & Keith McCandless

30. Henri Lipmanowicz & Keith McCandless
Activity List Where are you spending time? What are your key relationships?
Current Activities …
Key Relationships …
Henri Lipmanowicz & Keith McCandless

31. Exploring the Ecocycle
RENEWAL
MATURITY
Adapted from Holling in 1987 from use in describing ecological systems. And from Hurst and Zimmerman (1994) from use in understanding organizational change, crisis and renewal.
The model seems to be a useful to describe change in both human and natural systems. The words change but the principles are similar with a few important differences. Intention and foresight being the most important difference in human systems.
Forest analogy or another quick example here…
CREATIVE
DESTRUCTION
BIRTH
Henri Lipmanowicz & Keith McCandless

32. Conventional Lifecycle
MATURITY
Conservation & Routinization
Bureaucrat-As-Leader
GROWTH
Strategic, “Rational” Management
BIRTH
Adhocracies, Exploitation
Entrepreneur-As-Leader
Henri Lipmanowicz & Keith McCandless

33. The “Neglected” Back Loop
RENEWAL
Exploration/Invention/Reorganization
Network Weaver-As-Leader
LEADERSHIP
Envisioning new options
CREATIVE
DESTRUCTION
Release/Crisis/Confusion
Heretic-As-Leader
Henri Lipmanowicz & Keith McCandless

34. Ecocycle RENEWAL MATURITY CREATIVE DESTRUCTION BIRTH ~ Gathering
Exploration/Invention /Reorganization
Network Weaver-As-Leader
MATURITY
Conservation & Routinization
Bureaucrat-As-Leader
Poverty Trap
Not funding innovation
Rigidity Trap
Not letting go
~ Gathering
~ Sifting
CREATIVE
DESTRUCTION
Release/Crisis/Confusion
Heretic-As-Leader
BIRTH
Entrepreneurial Action
Entrepreneur-As-Leader
Adapted from Brenda Zimmerman,
EdgeWare & Getting To Maybe 34

35. Ecocycle Worksheet Name: ______.
4. Renewal
Mobilization
“Sowing”
2. Maturity
Conservation
“Harvesting”
Relationship Activity
Activity : Relationship
Activity : Relationship
Activity : Relationship
1. Birth
Exploitation
“Growing”
3. Creative
Destruction
“Plowing”
Henri Lipmanowicz & Keith McCandless

36. Henri Lipmanowicz & Keith McCandless
S T E P S
Use the list of activities and/or relationships, reflect on your own, generating a first draft
With one partner, coach each other to construct an Ecocycle map – 5 minutes each (10 minutes total)
In your group of four, decide where to place the activities on the large wall Ecocycle map or flip chart page (5 minutes)
Make sticky notes and put them on the map
Henri Lipmanowicz & Keith McCandless

37. Henri Lipmanowicz & Keith McCandless
Insights
Change is continuous along the cycle
Renewal requires destruction
Need for crisis -- root word “to sift”
Need for firebreaks, don’t burn the whole forest
Patch dynamics or balance in your activities are key to long term survival and adaptability
Create conditions for renewal and more births
Henri Lipmanowicz & Keith McCandless

38. Henri Lipmanowicz & Keith McCandless
Purposes: Ecocycle
Precursor to setting priorities
Identify a mix of strategies to move the whole portfolio forward
Identify waste
Find opportunities to free up resources
Include all and hear all perspectives at once
To expose differences
To see the whole picture (forest and the trees)
Henri Lipmanowicz & Keith McCandless

39. Cross Scale Interactions & Transformations Creative and Conserving
                                                                                       
Cross Scale Interactions & Transformations Creative and Conserving
The fast levels invent, experiment and test;
the slower levels stabilize & conserve
accumulated memory of past successful,
surviving experiments.
The whole Panarchy is both creative
and conserving.
Adapted from 39

40. A Panarchy Lens Cross-Scale MRSA Prevention
Public Perception “Myth” MRSA is not an inevitable part of modern healthcare (Rigidity Trap?)
A Panarchy Lens Cross-Scale MRSA Prevention
Medicare Policy shifting to non payment & transparency for HAIs
Industry or Sector
Prevention Practices
still trying & wasting $ to educate,
bribe or punish (Rigidity Trap?)
Hospital Beta Sites’
Prevention Practice
trying to invest more in spreading
PD/safe practices to others (Poverty Trap?)
Is a transformation in progress?”
Individual Project Leaders
(Nancy-Margaret)
stops over-controlling, unleashing more
unit-based self-organization
Community strain
Healthcare associated
MRSA Bacteria
is exploiting growth opportunities
in community & clinical settings

41. A Panarchy Lens Your challenge …………………
Public Perception or “Myth” …
A Panarchy Lens Your challenge …………………
Policy
Industry or Sector
Organization
At each level, how do you assess your challenge at this moment in time? What “cascades down” & “revolts up” are flowing?
Individual Leaders
or Teams
Micro Scale or
Environmental Context

43. Climbing Up & Down The Ladder of Inference
Actions
I take based on beliefs
Beliefs
I adopt about the world
Conclusions
I draw
Assumptions
I make based on meanings
Meanings
I add (cultural & personal)
Data
I select from observations
3. Now What?
2. So What?
Reflexive Loop
Emphasize the value of staying LOW on the ladder. Observation of WHAT happened are very useful in prototyping innovations and making design changes.
During the Debrief, we move from LOW to HIGH
1. What?
Observable data and experiences
Adapted from
Chris Argyris, Harvard

44. Pick a “ladder jumping” enforcer
What³ Debrief
Pick a “ladder jumping” enforcer
WHAT?
What facts, data, & observations stand out?
SO WHAT?
How do you explain those facts? Assumptions? Patterns? What is important?
NOW WHAT?
What action may help you move forward? Who else should be here?
One

45. Liberating Structures
LS website
Book: Liberating Structures: Including and Unleashing Everyone (in progress)