Liberating Structures

Top 20 Liberating Structures

Hope has never trickled down. It has always sprung up. Studs Terkel

Liberating Structures are the processes and methods that make it easy 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. FAQs here

The approaches below help to draw out the social inventiveness of individuals, groups, and communities. They have been successfully introduced, widely used, and quickly spread in many settings, languages, and countries. They require minimal structuring while liberating maximum creative adaptability! Plexus webinar, 90 minutes

Below, check out video of a heatlhcare group using one Liberating Structure called TRIZ. [Many thanks to the video maestro Mike Young @ CIMIT]

Also, check below for new videos: Discovery and Action Dialogue + Improv for rapid prototyping in the Canadian PD Project.

TRIZ VIDEO

Schools, corporations, community-based NGOs, professional associations, hospitals, research and government organizations have benefited from their use. Once introduced, they develop a life of their own, spreading and inspiring people in unexpected directions.

Read more on Liberating Structures from Lisa Kimball, Plexus Board member and Group Jazz producer. Check out clients to get a sense of what kind of organizations are using Liberating Structures. Recent workshops were held in Paris, Brussels, and Madrid.

Like avant-guarde music, mix-and-match collages and creative re-mixing are wildly popular among users. We deeply respect the integrity of each approach while adapting with abandon to local conditions. The strength of Liberating Structures arises out of their flexibility AND structure. We are continuously adding and re-mixing elements to create novel approaches. Always and never the same.

The methods have been developed and adapted by complexity-inspired practitioners and scholars. Many of the approaches arose out of learning communities supported by the Plexus Institute and urged on by the publication of EdgeWare. The differences from conventional practice are profound. The approaches co-evolve, simultaneously and mutually shaped with every new application and context. Check out selected papers for stories about use. See how behaviors and culture are changing (this show highlights some of the changes experienced in client organizations).

FAQs include a typical agenda and details about how an immersion workshop is organized. NEW LS includes a current list of 32 LS methods as of February 2010.

1 > Agreement-and-Certainty Matching Matrix

Matching Simple, Complicated, & Complex Approaches to Specific Challenges

2 > Making Space for Self-Organization with TRIZ
Designing a Perfectly Adverse System to Make Space for Innovation

3 > Wicked Questions
Framing a Paradoxical Challenge That Engages Everyone’s Imagination

4 > Min Specs
Unleashing Innovation & Action by Specifying only “Must-do’s” & “Must-not-do’s”

5 > Chunking - Rapid Prototyping [video, hospital improv for prototyping]
Tapping Tacit and Latent Knowledge in Seriously-Playful Rapid Cycles

6 > 15% Solutions
Noticing and Using the Influence, Discretion and Power Individuals (YOU!) Have Right Now

7 > Conversation Café Dialogue
Making Sense of and Forming Consensual Hunches about Big Challenges

8 > Wise Crowds Group Consultation
Tapping the “Wisdom of Crowds” To Solve Problems Together

9 > Fishbowls & Celebrity Interviews
Surfacing and Working Through Shared Challenges in “Improvisational” Conversations

10 > Graphic StoryBoarding
Illustrating and Detailing a Design Process for Key Meetings

11 > Design Party Debrief
Reflecting on Your Design-In-Progress and Making Adjustments-As-You-Go

12 > Open Space Technology
Liberating Inherent Creativity and Leadership In Large Groups with an Action-Orientation

13 > Ecocycle & Panarchy Planning
Engaging Groups in Growing and Sifting Their Portfolio of Activities

14 > Appreciative Interviews
Creating Momentum by Building On and Designing With What Works Right Now

15 > Positive Deviance + Discovery & Action Dialogue [video link] Self-Discovering Solutions To Big Challenges "Hidden" Right Before Your Eyes

16 > Smart Networks
Weaving Social Connections and Informal Networks To Develop & Advance Practice

17 > Generative Relationships
Understanding Patterns in Relationships that Create Surprising, New Sources of Value

18 > Purpose-To-Practice Design
Designing An Innovative, Self-Organizing, and Self-Governing Organization

19 > Scenario Planning
Preparing and Practicing Strategy-Making for Surprising-Yet-Plausible Futures; Exploring Critical Uncertainties

20 > 1-2-4 Progressive, Rapid Cycle Conversation
Conversing in Rapid-Cycle, Iterative Sequence: Self-Reflection, Pairs, and Small Groups

Mash-Ups

Practitioners are continuously adding and re-mixing elements to create new Liberating Structures. Someday, we will have a wiki or a public space to share advances as they unfold.

NEW LS: See the current collection of 32 Liberating Structures here. NEW LS

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Social Invention Group

Complexity Science Inspired Consulting~Coaching~Teaching~Facilitating