1. Liberating Structures Henri Lipmanowicz Keith McCandless Plexus Institute, 2009

2. Our inventory of useful methods. Which of these methods are familiar to you? One point for each: 15.Smart Network Mapping 16.Generative Relationships 17.Purpose-To-Practice Design 18.Scenario Planning Critical Uncertainties 19.Impromptu Speed Networking 20.1-2-4-Whole Group 21.Troika Consulting 22.Fishbowl Sessions – “What I Need From You” 23.Celebrity Interview 24.5 Whys & 10 Hows 25. Storyboarding Agendas 26. Positive Deviance YOUR TOTAL SCORE IS: _____? 1.Appreciative Interviews 2.Agreement / Uncertainty Matrix 3.Creative Destruction via TRIZ 4.Wicked Questions 5.Min Specs 6.Chunking via Rapid Prototyping 7. Improv 8.15% Solutions 9.Open Space Technology 10. Ecocycle Sifting & Gathering 11. Panarchy: Cross-Scale Change 12. Conversation Café Dialogue 13. Discovery & Action Dialogue 14. Wise Crowds Group Consultation

3. Question 1 How long have you used complexity-inspired methods -- such as the approaches in the last slide -- in your organization or consulting work? A.> 10 years B.3-10 years C.1-3 years - D.in the last year E.not started yet

4. The Story We Tell in Airplanes “In one week we can have a transforming impact on an organization!!!”

5. 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

6. In organizations, patterns and results emerge from how people interact with each other and affect each other’s behaviors and ideas. ~ Simultaneous mutual shaping at play ~ Hope has never trickled down. It has always sprung up.

7. New Option to Affect a System Same people Same structure Same incentives Change processes & patterns of relating Liberating Structures Culture eats strategy for lunch

8. Purpose Liberating Structures Stimulate and unleash innovation and productivity at all levels by using and inventing new ways of working together and interacting with peers, clients, students, and community members.

9. The Story We Tell in Airplanes “in one week we can have a transforming impact on an organization!!!” How? With a LS Workshop: Up to 120 participants, all levels 20 to 25 LS 2-3 days 2 days 1-on-1 coaching How we start the LS workshop: Impromptu Speed Networking (15 minutes) Appreciative Interview (45 minutes)

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

11. What is YOUR biggest challenge right now? What do you hope to get from and contribute to the workshop? Find a partner…3-5 minutes sharing… Then find another partner… then find another. How to move from product to customer focus I have no idea what will happen here! Our customers think we don’t care The frontline resists all change How to maintain momentum in a rough downturn Better ways to address chronic problems The merger! I have a new team I want to bust the silos

12. Why start this way? What did you notice?  Liberates energy (no speech…)  Invites deeper engagement with a provocative or profound question  Repetition deepens stories  Listening quickly connects people  Loose connections can be powerful  Little things can make a big difference

13. Brainstorm Where and how could you use Impromptu Speed Networking: In Meetings? Events?

14. Why “Liberating Structures”? Liberation/Freedom Maximum Structure/Control Minimum

15. Appreciative Interviews Creating Momentum by Building On and Designing With “What Works Right Now” Find a partner you don’t know well and share a story about a fabulous personal achievement… (re a complex challenge)

16. Insights Building on what works with an appreciative approach (people are attracted to light!) Storytelling versus PowerPoint Pairs, then Quartets Retelling and listening Recognizing patterns Collecting Whole Group wisdom When you repeat appreciative interviews in rapid cycles it can draw out more discovery & knowledge for innovation

17. 1-2-4-Whole Group Progressive, Rapid Cycle Conversation –Self-Reflection (no talking) –Pairs –Small Groups –Whole group

18. Brainstorm Where and how can you use Appreciative Interviews Or 1-2-4-Whole group

19. Liberating Structures Defined Processes and methods that make it easy and quick for groups of people to liberate their energy, tap into their collective intelligence, be creative, adaptable, build on each other’s ideas, and get results

20. Question 2 What is the degree to which your organization or your clients rely on the following practices to address complex challenges: –Importing “evidence-based” best practices –Driving change & buy-in strategies –Extensive training or more personal development A.never B.rarely C.not sure D.frequently E.always

21. Are You Also Experiencing These Challenges?  Imported best practices spreading poorly or not at all in local settings  Buy-in which can't be achieved without painful, often futile arm- twisting (after the initial hoopla & charismatic messaging fade away)  Expensive efforts to train or educate people that fail to change behavior (or show only modest results)

22. Diagnosis These are classic symptoms of ineffective or neglected methods for unleashing social invention. For a large class of challenges, selecting whom to include and how they are best engaged in addressing the problem-at- hand is critical but overlooked. Technical mastery overshadows the subtle power of local wisdom in crowds.

23. Problems & Opportunities Awareness Iceberg 4% known to top leaders 9% known to middle managers 74% known to supervisors 100% known to the front line & customers Adapted from study conducted by Sidney Yoshida, initially presented at the International Quality Symposium Action unleashed @ the front line

24. Solution Engaging more people at multiple levels, earlier and more strategically, can dramatically boost capacity for solutions that generate spectacular and unexpected results. Methods that shift patterns of interaction are most helpful. Simple approaches like Liberating Structures will help you and others discover for themselves more productive and innovative solutions.

25. Question 3 In your direct experience, is your organization getting better at using complexity-inspired methods to address complex challenges? A.yes, definitely getting better organization-wide B.making progress in pockets C.getting worse, not better D.no change E.not sure

26. Question 4 For participants with direct experience, what is your self- assessment of how complexity methods are spreading across your organization (top-to-bottom-to- clients)? A.Active, fully distributed spread B.Active use in units and pockets C.Active use by champions within pockets D.Isolated use only when facilitated by experts E.Very limited or no spread

27. Early Design Flaws - Failing Forward In Spreading Complexity-Inspired Methods Design Attributes Science- and concept- based learning sessions focusing on scientific advances & principles Learning sessions in far- away places with homogenous groups (e.g., leaders, trainers, change agents) Expert facilitation using one or two methods to address a single complex challenge Hard Lessons Only a few people really cared and this did not prepare them to take action in local settings We assumed individuals could effectively share and spread methods “back home” This seemed to create “facilitator dependence.” Plus, only so much progress can be made in an offsite session.

28. Liberating Structures Workshop 25+ 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

29. 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 you and everyone in the room We search for the minimum structure to liberate the maximum innovation

30. Liberating Structures An expanding, adaptable mash-up of open source methods 1.Appreciative Interviews 2.Agreement / Uncertainty Matrix 3.Creative Destruction via TRIZ 4.Wicked Questions 5.Min Specs 6.Chunking via Rapid Prototyping 7. Improv 8.15% Solutions 9.Open Space Technology 10. Ecocycle Sifting & Gathering 11. Panarchy: Cross-Scale Change 12. Conversation Café Dialogue 13. Discovery & Action Dialogue 14. Wise Crowds Group Consultation 15. Smart Network Mapping 16. Generative Relationships 17. Purpose-To-Practice Design 18. Scenario Planning Critical Uncertainties 19.Impromptu Speed Networking 20.1-2-4-Whole Group 21.Troika Consulting 22.Fishbowl Sessions – “What I Need From You” 23.Celebrity Interview 24.5 Whys & 10 Hows 25. Storyboarding Agendas 26. Positive Deviance We search for the minimum structure to liberate the maximum innovation

31. Typical Workshop Agenda DAY I – 8:30am-5:00pmDAY II – 8:30am-5:00pmDAY III – 8:30am-1:30pm Welcome and Purpose [] Impromptu Networking Quick Rounds of Conversation With “Strangers” [20] [] Introducing LS and Purpose [] Appreciative Interviews Creating 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 Matrix Matching Simple, Complicated, & Complex Approaches to Specific Challenges [30] self-reflection, then pairs, then place challenges on BIG wall chart. Group review. [] Ecocycle Planning Engaging 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% Solutions + Troika Consults Noticing 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 TRIZ Designing a Perfectly Adverse System to Make Space [45-60] Themes: important customer or patient or peer interaction [] Flocking CAS [15] How do innovations spread? [] Wise Crowds 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 Session Reflecting 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 Dialogue Making Sense of and Forming Consensual Hunches about Big Challenges [60] Themes: using LS in your work… [] Graphic StoryBoarding Illustrating 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 a chronic challenge [] Min Specs Unleashing Innovation & Action by Specifying only “Must- do’s” & “Must-not-do’s” [30] Start with why, why, why… to clarify purpose, then sift activities. [] Smart Networks Mapping Weaving Social Connections and Informal Networks To Develop & Advance Practice [20] draw personal maps by hand or review Smart Maps, then Webbing: who do you go to for expertise… inspiration… permission?... [] Lunch [] “What I Need From You” Fishbowl Articulating Clear and Actionable Needs Across Functions [60] focus on a new strategic challenge that requires coordination to meet clients needs [] Chunking, User Research, Prototyping Tapping Tacit and Latent Knowledge in Seriously-Playful Rapid Cycles [80] Improv theme: difficult conversation with key client or peer [] Design Party Debrief Sessions Reflecting on Your Design-In-Progress and Making Adjustments-As-You-Go [20] [] Social Time and Dinner Together [] Open Space Technology Liberating Inherent Creativity and Leadership In Large Groups with an Action-Orientation [120] Application of Liberating Structures to an important challenges for ABC organization [] Generative Relationships Understanding 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 Party or Webbing or “25” Paired Self-Reflection in Fast Cycles [20] in Spanish, English, Swedish, French and Portuguese. Use when energy gets low. [] Lunch Together and Closing Optional “improv” activities & simulations:  Flocking CAS  Webbing or CoPs  Leader / Follower F L O W  Blocking / Accepting Offers ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Day IV and V  One-to-One Coaching Sessions as requested  Post 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

32. Attributes of LS Methods What 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

33. What Else? What other methods fit with Liberating Structures? What comes to your mind? Use the Chat function to add your ideas. You can control who you send to… Go wild!

34. FAQ #1 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.

35. FAQ # 2 Why Top & Front Line Together? –Complex issues involve multiple functions, levels, & disciplines –The front line knows more about the customers’ problems & opportunities –Serious progress on tough issues can be made with all parties present –Learning together helps launch LS use quickly –Confidence builds when everyone starts on an equal footing –No waiting for permission –Everyone can simultaneously-and-mutually shape innovations as they emerge

36. Outcomes Forgiving Early Successes Easy to Implement, Spreads Itself Concrete Changes Immediate Early Adopters Creative Relationship with Clients Energy Unleashed Wow! Practicing Our Way Into New Thinking

37. Liberating Structures in Practice Inspired by pioneering work with Plexus in the US. Launched in 2004 and developed in Latin America. Now, migrating to Europe and Asia.

38. What Is Unique or Special About Liberating Structures? You have heard enough from us. What do you think? –Chat with your neighbor –Share ideas in small groups –Share the most interesting or unusual with the whole group

39. Question 5 Sponsoring a workshop is a big commitment. How likely is it that your organization or an organization you work with will want to host a workshop? A.very likely B.likely C.not sure D.unlikely E.never Your suggestions for how to position this offering will be most appreciated.

40. Question 6 Designing a LS workshop is fun, relatively simple, and rewarding. How likely is it that you will want to design something similar to this offering for your organization or your clients? A.very likely B.likely C.not sure D.unlikely E.very unlikely

41. Bonus Material Based on what emerges, we will dig deeper into the most interesting questions that pop up. –More on methods –What is different –Shifting behavior & culture –Sources of knowledge for innovation –Learning more

42. 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 Posting information with colorful graphics Natural environment Movement, fun Social elements, mixing participants

43. What Is Different? S elf-sustaining attributes include… more participatory, engaging diverse stakeholders in substantive co-design rather than the select few formal leaders; more unit-based and local, with solutions worked out by front- line groups instead of imported “best practices;” more informal, building on social networks and decentralized communities-of-practice rather than the organizational chart via “buy in” initiatives; and, more practical, ready to be adapted in everyday settings without additional education, training or certification. These attributes help make Liberating Structures self- sustaining and self-spreading. We find people learn best when they discover solutions themselves, among peers in their local context.

44. Attributes of LS Methods What 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

45. Shifting Behaviors & Culture Self-Reinforcing Patterns Control Focus on Tasks & Alignment Dependency Letting Go Focus on Engaging People & Purpose Self- Organization Liberating Structures A Personal and Organizational Journey Adapted in part from Bob Anderson, “From Patriarchy to Partnership”

46. Behaviors Linked To Methods Removing Barriers to Innovation Listening & Asking for Help Relying on “Local” Discovery Seeking Multiple Interpretations; Risking Multiple Actions Sharing Information Freely Seeking Expertise, Not Rank Taking on More Responsibility 1-2-4-Whole Group Wise Crowds Purpose-To-Practice Design Agreement/Certainty Matrix Conversation Café Dialogue Generative Relationships Appreciative Interviews Graphic StoryBoarding Smart Networks + CoP Group Consultation Min Specs TRIZ 15% Solutions Ecocycle Planning Positive Deviance Scenario Planning Wicked Questions Design Party Debriefs Open Space Technology Chunking – Rapid Prototyping Fishbowls & Celebrity Interviews

47. Sources of Knowledge & Innovation ExplicitTacitLatent / Emergent ASK What your clients or peers tell you they need when you ask (e.g., focus groups) OBSERVE What behaviors you see in their local context (e.g., ethnographic observation) CO-CREATE EXPERIENCE What you jointly discover & develop with peers & clients (e.g., rapid prototyping) LS ++ LS +++ Adapted from Alan Duncan, MD (Mayo Clinic) LS tap tacit and latent-emergent knowledge

48. Liberating Structures Help People and Organizations… Attract people with diverse skills to solve problems Invite, build and amplify a community-of-practice Expand scarce resources Work with the imagination & resources at hand Adapt quickly, creatively to emerging problems Create new markets, products, and services in partnership with unusual suspects Work across silos, redrawing boundaries Bounce back from disruptions …

49. More about Liberating Structures @ www.socialinvention.net & www.plexusinstitute.org www.socialinvention.netwww.plexusinstitute.org Keith McCandless, Co-Founder Social Invention Group P: +1 206.324.9332 keithmccandless@earthlink.net www.socialinvention.net Henri Lipmanowicz, Chair Plexus Institute www.henrilip@mac.com www.plexusinstitute.org Lisa Kimball, President, Plexus Institute 1025 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20036 P: +1 202.857.9797 lisa@plexusinstitute.org http://www.plexusinstitute.org