The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures: Simple Rules to Unleash A Culture of Innovation (17 page)

Examples of Powerful Strings

Nine Whys + Min Specs + Ecocycle + Panarchy

Clarify how your work is justified to the larger community (purpose) with
Nine Whys
and specify the must dos and must not dos with
Min Specs
. With the
Ecocycle
, clarify the status of your portfolio of activities and relationships at the level of your organization. Use
Panarchy
to clarify activities and relationships at all the other levels that affect your initiative and identify opportunities for actions.

Nine Whys + Social Network Webbing + 15% Solutions + Troika Consulting

Clarify purpose with
Nine Whys
. Then, with
Social Network Webbing
, identify all the individuals and groups that can be attracted to the work with formal or informal ties. With
15% Solutions
, everybody decides what he or she can do immediately to strengthen and develop the network. Continue with
Troika Consulting
for each person to receive further advice on what to do and how.

Celebrity Interview + Min Specs + Ecocycle

Build deeper understanding and trust with formal leaders via a
Celebrity Interview
. Use
Min Specs
to identify the must dos and must not dos for spreading change. Draw the status of activities and relationships on the
Ecocycle
and identify opportunities for changes.

DAD + 1-2-4-All + Panarchy + Design StoryBoard

Use series of
DADs
to discover
hidden
solutions to chronic challenges and then
1-2-4-All
for all participants to decide how to adapt successful behaviors to their local settings. Brainstorm how to insinuate the success at other levels with
Panarchy
. Sketch out pathways for coordinating up, down, and out via a
Design StoryBoard
.

Purpose-To-Practice + Drawing Together + Integrated~Autonomy
Create an organizational design based on shared ownership with
Purpose-To-Practice
. With
Drawing Together
, spark imaginative solutions to the challenges of integrated yet autonomous operations. Spell out the specifics of working across widely distributed sites with
Integrated~Autonomy
.

These few string examples illustrate how much you can accomplish in a short time—often less than one hour or ninety minutes—and how easy it will be for you to compose many others based on the specifics of your own challenges. Be prepared to be pleasantly surprised! As a rule, we compose strings that include much more than we imagine can be accomplished in the time allotted. When we do not complete the entire string, there is a basis for planning next steps with the group. Be sure to keep records of your strings to share with others.

Chapter 7

From Strings To Storyboards

A project or a transformation initiative that is too big to be supported by a single string of Liberating Structures calls for a comprehensive design, which is simply a series of strings and structures linked together in a logical progression. This chapter describes three examples that are typical of our experiences in the field:

As you will see, the designs for some situations can be fairly simple while others require detailed storyboards.

At first glance, these designs may seem far too ambitious or idealized. We ask you to suspend your judgment: we have found that as the participants become more familiar with Liberating Structures, the speed and depth of their ideas and activity increase. Liberating Structures make much more possible. The experience can be breathtaking—almost too good to be true. With increasing inclusion comes more trust. With more trust, it is possible to
believe before you see
. With shared beliefs, it is possible to take bigger leaps and move boldly forward together. This is what we have seen happen time after time after time.

Launching a Multi-Stakeholder Collaborative Project

Twenty-five leaders from a variety of organizations—schools, small nonprofits, and business—are starting to work together to attract funding from a large foundation for a community-wide initiative. Their goal is to build a healthier and more vibrant community, but they need a “big idea” to inspire collaboration and spark a community movement. A funder has expressed strong interest. The pressure is on
.

The design for the meeting is intended to help the whole group arrive step by step at a well-thought-out big idea. It consists of a logical sequence of seven stages each with its own purpose and supported by a specific Liberating Structure. In the agenda below, the questions used to spark engagement and idea generation appear below each Liberating Structure in the design.
Notes regarding important transitions for the facilitator are italicized
.

Since the twenty-five leaders don’t all know one another, the first step in the agenda is designed to help them build new connections that will serve them down the road. The second purpose is to reveal which challenges and expectations they share and which ones are different.
Impromptu Networking
is selected for this first step in the agenda as follows:

      
Step 1. Impromptu Networking
(fifteen minutes)

        
• What is a challenge you would like our big idea to address? What can you give and get from a new community initiative?

In step 2, the participants use
1-2-4-All
to identify the themes and patterns that cut across their wishes as follows:

      
Step 2. 1-2-4-All
(one or two rounds) (ten to twenty minutes)

        
• What will be different as a result of our work together? Be as concrete as you can about behaviors and tangible health or economic outcomes.

Look for two or three themes to emerge out of the individual contributions. One round of
1-2-4-All
may be enough if responses are tangible and compelling through the eyes of participants
.

In step 3, the best ten bold ideas are sifted with
25/10 Crowd Sourcing
as follows:

      
Step 3. 25/10 Crowd Sourcing
of Bold Ideas (fifteen minutes)

        
• If you were ten times bolder, what would you do? What first step will get the ball rolling?

Call out the top ideas and post on a large wall chart
.

In step 4, the participants identify the most promising idea with
1-2-4-All
as follows:

      
Step 4. 1-2-4-All
(ten minutes)

        
• Which ideas do you think will make a big difference in the community? Is there one that stands out? Can you and your organization support and move forward with this idea?

Look for one idea to emerge above all others
.

In step 5, participants then clarify what they must absolutely not do.

      
Step 5
.
TRIZ
to Make Space for Innovation (fifteen minutes)

        
• How can we make sure that we act as a collaborative community group in name only… without having the back of anyone but ourselves?

Looking forward to a successful proposal, start to establish a productive pattern of behavior among participants
.

In step 6, they identify who else must be included as follows:

      
Step 6. Social Network Webbing
(twenty minutes)

        
• Who are the people we need to attract to this initiative? Who are the people we need to start the work? Who can block and who can enable fast progress? Who are experts on the periphery of this social network we need to tap?

Make it real by naming names
.

In the final step, the participants agree on their next steps by clarifying the five components of their next task (Purpose, Principles, Participants, Structure, and Practices) as follows:

      
Step 7. Next Steps

Purpose-To-Practice
will deepen the group’s readiness to hit the ground running when the work to write the proposal starts
.

At the end of an intense but short three-hour session, the twenty-five leaders were surprised by their experience using Liberating Structures and delighted with the outcome. They had their big idea, which was the fruit of their common labor, and they felt clear and prepared for what to do next.