The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures: Simple Rules to Unleash A Culture of Innovation (6 page)

What else is made possible?

1-2-4-All
transforms discussions from a linear sequence of single contributions into a series of simultaneous conversations. This makes it possible to engage within the same amount of time groups much larger than what is feasible with a Managed Discussion; getting contributions as wide and diverse as an issue requires is to be expected. More broadly, shared ownership of codeveloped initiatives means simplified and faster implementation; there is less of a need to explain actions, convince others, or push for buy-in.

1-2-4-All
is so simple that it may easily be seen as a trivial change, something childish even, that is unlikely to make any difference, particularly with a group of more senior people. Nothing could be further from the truth. Replacing any of the Big Five microstructures with
1-2-4-All
is one of those tiny changes that can totally transform the outcome of any group’s discussion.

Seeing
1-2-4-All
in action, or even reading about it, illustrates how, with distributed control, Liberating Structures make maximum use of the time available by replacing sequential interventions/contributions with simultaneous interactions. In other words, Liberating Structures like
1-2-4-All
allow parallel versus linear processing. This gives everybody not only a lot more total time to contribute but also a lot more equal time than conventional microstructures. Well-structured parallel processing makes it possible for groups of any size to work effectively and productively together. This dramatically increases the possible number of stakeholders who can contribute to shaping decisions.

1-2-4-All
also exemplifies how Liberating Structures prevent the common side effects of conventional microstructures. Liberating Structures give everyone equal opportunity and time to participate. They provide clear boundaries within which energy and creativity can be unleashed but channeled. They create lots of safe spaces that minimize power dynamics and encourage candid exchanges. They invite and facilitate the cocreation of both agendas and solutions.

These features transform how people collaborate, and how they discover and cocreate new solutions.

Harnessing the Power of Small Changes

Logic suggests that big progress can only come from big changes and that small changes will have little or no impact. Hence, the focus of leadership is nearly always on the larger and more visible ingredients of organizational performance, for example:

Changing people often includes training managers, leaders, and others to develop their skills. Using training to change people is unfortunately a very slow process and a complex challenge. In contrast, replacing a conventional microstructure with a Liberating Structure in group work is very quick and quite easy. It mostly takes the willingness to take a small risk and suffer through a bit of anxiety the first couple of times around. It takes getting used to trusting that the structures will—so to speak—“do the work of engaging people” and the people will do the rest. Multiple experiences reveal that it takes learning that the structures provide enough control to avoid chaos. A little
believing before seeing
is required.

Liberating Structures also provide many practical ways to make one-on-one discussions more productive and thereby transform the overall engagement capability of an organization. The process often starts with learning how to use Liberating Structures in groups. From this experience, it becomes possible to select from among the variety of liberating invitations or questions those that fit the purpose of each one-on-one meeting—for instance, “What is your
15% Solution
?” Similarly, the steps included in many Liberating Structures are easily adaptable to what needs to be accomplished in a group of two—for instance, the debrief structure of
What, So What, and Now What?

Liberating Structures challenge the myth that engaging people in an organization is difficult. First, they are easy to learn. Second, they don’t require charisma or any special skills to use. Third, they spread person-to-person, without formal training, making it possible for everybody to join in shaping next steps. Liberating Structures quickly boost creative adaptability across an organization.

Without changing people, resources, or macrostructures, each instance of using a Liberating Structure will have an impact by affecting how ideas emerge and are filtered, how choices and decisions are made. The vignettes at the beginning of
Chapter 1
are examples of the power of small structural changes and their impact. Many changes will have a small impact, but some will be significant. Cumulatively, their effect will be large because there is an endless number of opportunities every day for using Liberating Structures in every corner of any organization.

With Liberating Structures, it is possible to change patterns of interactions, decisions, and actions between individuals, then within a team, then across teams, and then across other boundaries. This “liberates” changes that can radiate in all directions: down, sideways, and up (
figure 3.1
).

Principles and Practices

With Liberating Structures, it is possible, and not that difficult, to tap an organization’s collective intelligence and address opportunities and challenges together. This approach to including and unleashing everyone ensures that every individual not only has influence but also the structure to contribute something unique. Our experience with groups using Liberating Structures around the globe confirms that much more can be achieved by inviting those contributions. In fact, key contributions often come from unexpected sources when Liberating Structures are used to create the right conditions.

From our own experience, and the stories our clients have shared, we have identified ten principles that emerge in organizations when Liberating Structures become part of everyday interactions:

Table 3.1
summarizes the full range of what gradually becomes possible in an organization when Liberating Structures replace or complement conventional microstructures.

In other words, the principles listed in
Table 3.1
become ongoing practices for how to stimulate positive changes and innovation. For example, in every situation where we have been involved, without exception, Liberating Structures made it quickly obvious when a group’s purpose was not clear or shared by all participants. This happened because, as everyone became engaged, confusion and differences that might otherwise have been suppressed came to the surface immediately. A clear, commonly held purpose is rarely seen for the simple reason that all the participants are almost never invited to generate jointly the answer to the question, “What is our purpose for working together now?”

Working with Liberating Structures has taught us that self-discovery and cocreation are the only reliable way to clarify purpose and ensure that it is both common and meaningful. The idea is to marry Principle #3, “Never start without a clear purpose,” with #1, “Include and unleash everyone, and #6, “Practice self-discovery,” and use appropriate Liberating Structures to make all three come alive. Otherwise, many group members likely will not endorse a purpose generated without them. They will not put their energy to advance it or, worse, will resist or block it.

The importance of self-discovery and cocreation doesn’t stop with purpose. They are just as essential for making sense of challenges and for developing solutions that are likely to be adopted, adaptable, and successful. What is standard in most organizations is importing best practices or imposing practices from above. The assumption that a best practice will work everywhere is just too convenient to resist. So is the assumption that local context and people, though important, will not matter enough to make the difference. Plus, best practices fit nicely with the deep-seated notion that reinventing the wheel is a waste of time and money. Unfortunately, importing or imposing best practices usually involves trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Context, culture, and people do matter more than we like to admit, and resistance inevitably emerges when we discount them.

Customer Service the Best-Practice Way

Consider this example of a conventional expert-driven approach to a customer-service issue (
Figure 3.2
). The leader of an organization perceives there is a problem with customer service and competition is increasing for the attention of customers. An external consultant is brought in to analyze the dimensions of the problem and report to top management. An external expert is then hired to generate a solution in the form of a series of best practices for exceptional service. A plan to launch the new service concept is hatched by a leader-sponsor who is inspired by a best-selling management book with success stories from other companies. A training program is designed that addresses the dimensions of the problem identified in the initial analysis. Training for frontline employees follows, cascading down the organization. A series of communications strategies are implemented to generate buy-in and overcome resistance to change. The project is reported as “Mission Accomplished.” A few months later, momentum has evaporated and nothing much has changed about the quality of customer service. Now the program is rarely mentioned.

The unspoken principles here in the minds of the leaders were:
“We don’t know how to solve this problem, so the people in the middle of it (those who created the problem and who are less smart than we are) are even less capable of figuring out what to do. Solutions and innovations can only come from external experts.”