The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures: Simple Rules to Unleash A Culture of Innovation (39 page)

“Empathy removes the blocks to action in a way that is inclusive. It creates power through partnership and cocreation, resolving what appears to be knotted and bound.” Dominic Barter

• Invite participants to tell a story to a partner about a time when they felt that they were not heard, seen, or respected.
  
• Ask the listeners to avoid any interruptions other than asking questions like “What else?” or “What happened next?”
  

• Chairs facing each other, a few inches between knees
  
• No tables
  

•
  
Everyone has an equal amount of time, in turn, to participate in each role, as a storyteller and a listener

• In pairs for the storytelling
  
• Then foursomes for reflecting on what happened
  

• Introduce the purpose of
  HSR
  : to practice listening without trying to fix anything or make any judgments. 3 min.
  
• One at a time, each person has 7 minutes to share a story about NOT being heard, seen, or respected. 15 min.
  
• Partners
  share with one another the experiences of listening and storytelling: “What did it feel like to tell my story; what did it feel like to listen to your story?” 5 min.
  
• In a foursome, participants share reflections using 1-2-4, asking, “What patterns are revealed in the stories? What importance do you assign to the pattern?” 5 min.
  
• As a whole group, participants reflect on the questions, “How could
  HSR
  be used to address challenges revealed by the patterns? What other Liberating Structures could be used?” 5 min.
  

• Reveal how common it is for people to experience not being heard, seen, or respected
  
• Reveal how common it is for people to behave in a way that makes other people feel they are not being heard, seen, or respected
  
• Improve listening, tuning, and empathy among group members
  
• Notice how much can be accomplished simply by listening
  
• Rely on each other more when facing confusing or new situations
  
• Offer catharsis and healing after strains in relationships
  
• Help managers discern when listening is more effective than trying to solve a problem
  

• Say, “Your partner may be ready before you. The first story that pops into mind is often the best.”
  
• Make it safe by saying, “You may not want to pick the most painful story that comes to mind.”
  
• Make it safe by saying, “Protect carefully the privacy of the storyteller. Ask what parts, if any, you can share with others.”
  
• Suggest, “When you are the listener, notice when you form a judgment (about what is right or wrong) or when you get an idea about how you can help, then
  let it go
  .”
  

• If you are feeling brave, replace the word “respected” with “loved” (i.e., the
  agape
  form of love—seeking the highest good in others without motive for personal gain.)
  
• String
  HSR
  together with other Liberating Structures that help to mend relationships:
  Troika Consulting, Helping Heuristics, Generative Relationships STAR, Appreciative Interviews, Conversation Café
  

• For regular meetings to improve the quality of listening and tuning in to each other
  
• For transition periods when questions about the future are unanswerable (e.g., post-merger integration, market disruptions, social upheaval) and empathetic listening is what is needed
  
• When individuals or groups have suffered a loss and need a forum to share their grief or despair
  
• To improve one-on-one reporting relationships up and down in an organization
  

Below: presentation materials we use to introduce
HSR

“A vivid imagination compels the whole body to obey.” Aristotle

•
  
Invite participants to tell a story about a challenge they face, or a common challenge, using only five symbols and no words

• An open wall with tapestry paper or easels with blank pages in flip charts
  
• Water-based markers; soft pastels if you are feeling colorful
  

• Everyone is included since the five symbols are easy for everyone to draw
  
• All participants make their individual drawings simultaneously
  

• Individually to practice the drawing of the symbols
  
• Individually to make first and second drafts of their drawings
  
• Small groups of 1–4 others to interpret the drawings
  
• Whole group for debrief (using
  1-2-4-All
  for large groups)
  

•
  
Introduce the idea of drawing together by drawing and describing the meaning of each symbol. 5 min.

― Circle = wholeness;

― Rectangle = support;

― Triangle = goal;

― Spiral = change;

― Star person [equidistant cross] = relationship

• Invite participants to practice drawing the five symbols: circle, rectangle, triangle, spiral, star person. 5 min.
  
• Invite participants to combine the symbols to create the first draft of a story, working individually and without words, about “the journey” of working on a challenge or an innovation. 10 min.
  
• Invite participants to create a second draft, in which they refine their story by dramatizing the size, placement, and color of the symbols. 10 min.
  
• Ask participants to invite another individual or their small group to interpret their drawings. Remind them that the person who has done the drawing does not speak. 5 min.
  
• Ask the whole group, “Together, what do the drawings reveal?” Use
  1-2-4-All
  with larger groups. 5 min.
  

Below: visual stories created in 40-minute
Drawing Together
sessions

• Reveal insight or understanding not accessible with verbal or linear methods
  
• Tap all the sources of knowledge for innovation (explicit, tacit, latent/emergent)
  
• Signal that a quest or journey in search of new discoveries is under way
  
• Develop and deepen shared understanding of a vision or complex dynamics
  
• Create closer connections among group members
  

• Remind participants that the drawing is not the object by saying, “Refined drawing skills are not required—get over your need for perfection! Childlike drawing looks playful and captures the imagination of others!”
  
• Don’t help too much with drawing skills
  
• Help participants accept whatever emerges in the drawings (there are often surprises)
  
• Draw or present an example of a story that helps others make a leap of understanding
  
• Record the participants drawing with cameras and video recorders
  
• Return to the drawings when you reconvene as a group
  
• Remember that drawing can be powerfully therapeutic; be prepared for emotional responses
  

• One person can visually map conversations during a meeting (add words if you must)
  
• Start small: use a single sheet of 8½ ” by 11” paper to get started
  
• Computer tablets can be used instead of paper for participants to learn how to tell a story with the five symbols on their tablets
  
• Use the Hero’s Journey as a template for the stories
  
• Use as a template a progression from status quo, through call to novelty, discovery, validation, early adoption, and spread
  

• For a refreshing change of pace in a long meeting when a creative burst is needed
  
• When there are strong differences in perspective and the group is in a rut
  
• For visual facilitation of a meeting or conference, where drawings are created as the conversation unfolds
  
• For revealing obscure or hidden relationships when working on a complex project (e.g., one doctoral student had a eureka moment via
  Drawing Together
  )
  
• For helping a vision statement come to life (particularly for visually oriented people)
  
• For individual work, to visualize tacit or latent approaches to a challenge