The document outlines a workshop on Liberating Structures (LS), emphasizing the use of five symbols to narrate personal lean journeys and facilitate interactions. It describes key principles and practices of LS, such as the importance of minimal constraints, parallel processing, and inviting diverse participants to enhance innovation. The document also provides resources for further learning and methods for establishing effective communication and adaptive strategies within organizations.

1. Liberating Structures
DRS Immersion Workshop
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2. Drawing Together
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3. Circle: Completeness
Triangle: Goal
Rectangle: Support or structure
Spiral: Change or chaos
Star Person: People or relationships
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Use the 5 symbols to
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draw the story of your
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personal Lean journey.

5. Circle: Completeness
Triangle: Goal
Rectangle: Support or structure
Spiral: Change or chaos
Star Person: People or relationships
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6. Find another person you do not
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know well
1. Invite them to interpret your
drawing
2. Tell the actual story
3. Switch roles

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AGENDA

8. Liberating Structures
Developed by Keith McCandless +
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Henri Lipmanowicz

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Liberating Structures
Inspired by the science of
complex adaptive systems

10. Liberating Structures
Made available through Creative
Commons License = free to use,
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remix, change

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Liberating Structures
This is NOT a certification course.
There are no colored belts to be earned!

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What Are LS?
• Tiny shifts in our interaction patterns
• Embarrassingly small
• Results focused

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Principles of LS
• Minimum constraints are necessary
• Rapid cycles and many iterations over long, slow
methods
• Parallel processing adds agility and enhances
effectiveness
• Not all ideas are equal
• Distribute control while staying in charge
• Loose connections are at the root of innovation
• Invite unusual suspects!

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Always Present Microstructures
Invitation
Space
Groups
Participation Time

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Advanced LS Practice
Like DNA, Liberating Structures can be strung
together to achieve a specific purpose

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Additional LS Resources
The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures
by Keith McCandless + Henri Lipmanowicz
www.LiberatingStructures.com
Pre-Agile Design by Zac Cohn + Fisher Qua
(www.wonful.co/book)
Wonful’s “Innovation at Work” newsletter
(www.wonful.co/newsletter)
Liberating Structures User Group

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Minimum Specifications
The fewest rules necessary to achieve a
purpose
Defining MUST DO, MUST NOT DO

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Minimum Specifications
What must you do to maintain healthy
communication across your
organization/unit/team?
What must you avoid at all costs?

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1-2-4-All
Fundamental pattern common to most LS
Enables parallel processing and best ideas
to emerge

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TRIZ
Designing a perfectly adverse system
Identify specific behaviors preventing
you from moving forward productively

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TRIZ
What could you do to reliably guarantee that
no one in your organization communicated
with anybody else and no one was ever
on the same page as one another?

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Appreciative Interviews
+
9 Why’s
Get at the root cause or fundamental
justification for something

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Appreciative Interviews
+
9 Why’s
Share a story of a time when you
successfully implemented or navigated
a change that stuck and proved durable,
or a time when that didn’t happen.

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25/10
Generate bold new ideas for moving forward
Quickly prioritize contributions
Brainstorm in a structured way

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25/10
Imagine you are 10x bolder, what would
you recommend to Gov. Inslee…

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Purpose-to-Practice
Rigorously define the 5 elements of any initiative.
Clarify how you will move forward together.
Include more people in shaping projects.

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Purpose-to-Practice
PURPOSE
PRINCIPLES
PRACTICES
STRUCTURE PARTICIPANTS

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Purpose-to-Practice
Purpose: The fundamental justification
for the existence of some thing to the
outside world
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Why is this important to you,
DRS and your clients?

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Purpose-to-Practice
Principles: The minimum rules you must
obey in pursuit of your purpose.
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What MUST you do?
What MUST you NOT do?

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Purpose-to-Practice
Participants: Who must be included? What
unusual suspects should you invite?
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What types of people or specific
individuals would be necessary
to execute this idea?

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Purpose-to-Practice
Structure: How will you organize yourself and
your resources to achieve your purpose?
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5 microstructures
Frequency + Cadence of meetings
Roles
Visual management tools

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Purpose-to-Practice
Practices: What are you delivering to your end
users? What is the deliverable?
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What are you actually building or
designing?

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Critical Uncertainties
Develop adaptive strategies for plausible
future realities
Define the uncertainties that are critical to
your survival

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Mad Tea Party
Rapidly build momentum on a challenge
Make sense of strategy as it is implemented
Retrospectively integrate learning

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Mad Tea Party
My favorite part of today was…

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Mad Tea Party
Today I noticed everyone…

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Mad Tea Party
One practice or structure I plan
on using in the next week is…

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Mad Tea Party
What surprises me about LS is…

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Mad Tea Party
I like Mad Tea because…

40. wonful consulting.
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Zachary Cohn
Fisher Qua
@ZacharyCohn
@SFQua
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