Examples of using Liberating Structures

1. Strategy retreat with a business or business unit

• Get very clear purpose of the deepest need for your work (9 Whys)
• Generate rubust and hedging strategies to operate in surprise-filled future markets (Critical Uncertainties)
• Generate bold ideas for matching internal operations to market dynamics (25/10 Crowd Sourcing)
• Look over the entire product portfolio for big opportunities and bottlenecks and dip into workflow tactics (Ecocycle)
• Make commitments across functions to work out the knots - no holds barred (WINFY)

2. Introduce new team members

1. Greetings with Mad Tea Party about home town, university, carrier and so on (10 min)
2. Celebrity Interview of new member about their experiences (20 min)
3. Wise Crowds for new member about their concerns (15 min)
4. 1-2-4-All or 1-4-All to create the name of new team (15 min)

3. I want to spread innovation by scaling out and up.

Meeting that is broken down to the following: Nine Whys + Min Specs + Ecocycle + Panarchy

Details: 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.

4. Finding Everyday Solutions

Sample strings:

• TRIZ + 1-2-4-All + 15% Solutions + Troika Consulting
• Nine Whys + 1-2-4-All + 15% Solutions + 25/10 Crowd Sourcing (for groups larger than fifteen)

5. Noticing Patterns Together

Sample strings:

• What, So What, Now What? + Appreciative Interviews + Min Specs
• Shift & Share + Wicked Questions + 1-2-4-All

6. Drawing Out Prototypes

Sample strings:

• Appreciative Interviews + TRIZ + Ecocycle
• Users Experience Fishbowl + Simple Ethnography + Improv

7. Unleashing Local Action

Sample strings:

• Open Space + Min Specs + 25/10 Crowd Sourcing
• Nine Whys + Improv Prototyping + Design StoryBoard

8. Spreading Innovation by Scaling Out and Up

Sample strings:

• Nine Whys + Min Specs + Ecocycle + Panarchy
• Nine Whys + Social Network Webbing + 15% Solutions + Troika Consulting
• Celebrity Interview + Min Specs + Ecocycle