Are you tired of boring meetings which go on and on and never quite get to the point? Are you fed up with the same old people speaking up all the time? Would you like to harness the creativity and intelligence of everyone in the room, whilst having more fun? If so, Liberating Structures are for you. They are simple rules for groups, designed to include everyone in shaping the future. They’ve been developed and field tested over the past 10+ years in a variety of settings including healthcare, education, business and government. Based on pioneering work to apply complexity science in business and organisational settings. David and Iwona will offer an interactive ‘taster’ experience of some of the key Liberating Structures of the repertoire. You’ll get an idea of the range and power of the repertoire and how you apply them to your own work as a scrum master or agile coach. David Heath (https://twitter.com/dgheath21) is a Lead Developer at the UK Government Digital Service and also runs the London Liberating Structures Meetup. Iwona Winiarska is an Agile Delivery Manager at the UK Government Digital Service and coorganises agile meetups and conferences in London.

1. Liberating Structures
David Heath
Lead Developer, GDS
@dgheath21
@LibStructLdn
Iwona Winiarska
Agile Delivery Manager, GDS
iwona@winiarska.com
@agileIwona

2. What are
Liberating
Structures?

3. Simple rules
that include
everyone in
shaping the
future

4. Rooted in
Complexity
Theory

5. You gain from
control
• Calm things down to
promote predictability
You gain from
disorder
• Stir things up to promote
anti-fragility & creative
adaptability

6. How did I get
interested in
them?

7. People board

8. People board
Tech community

9. People board
Tech community
Mental health unconference session

10. Attributes

11. David Heath @dgheath21
Attributes of Liberating Structures

12. David Heath @dgheath21
Expert-less
Attributes of Liberating Structures

13. David Heath @dgheath21
Expert-less
Results-focused
Attributes of Liberating Structures

14. David Heath @dgheath21
Expert-less
Results-focused
Rapid cycling
Attributes of Liberating Structures

15. David Heath @dgheath21
Expert-less
Results-focused
Rapid cycling
Seriously fun
Attributes of Liberating Structures

16. David Heath @dgheath21
Expert-less
Results-focused
Rapid cycling
Seriously fun
Attributes of Liberating Structures
Inclusive

17. David Heath @dgheath21
Expert-less
Results-focused
Rapid cycling
Seriously fun
Attributes of Liberating Structures
Inclusive
Multi-scale

18. David Heath @dgheath21
Expert-less
Results-focused
Rapid cycling
Seriously fun
Attributes of Liberating Structures
Inclusive
Multi-scale
Self-spreading

19. David Heath @dgheath21
Expert-less
Results-focused
Rapid cycling
Seriously fun
Attributes of Liberating Structures
Inclusive
Multi-scale
Self-spreading
Modular

20. Who seems more serious and
more playful?
Henri Lipmanowicz Keith
McCandless
LIBERATING STRUCTURES CO-DEVELOPERS

21. Made available through a Creative Commons
Non-Commercial, Attribution, Share-and-Share Alike
License
You can use ‘em, you can share ‘em,
but you can’t sell ‘em
Slide content adapted from materials developed by Keith McCandless
Most photographs by Keith McCandless, others as noted

22. Tonight:
Liberating
Structures Taster

23. Tonight’s plan
Triz [20m]
Troika consulting [15m]
W3: What? So What? Now What? [20m]

24. Triz
Stop counterproductive activities
and behaviors to make space for
innovation 20 min

25. Get into groups of
around 4-6 people

26. We trust people to do a
good job at work

27. ➢
no one feels trusted to do a good job.
2 min.

28. ➢
➢
5 min.

29. 2 min.

30. anything you are doing in your own work or
organisation that in any way resembles
anything from the first list?
4 min.

31. 3 min.

32. Come up with one or two concrete action
steps to stop doing this behaviour
2 min.

33. 2 min.

34. 1 min.

35. Troika Consulting
Get practical and imaginative help from
colleagues immediately

36. What is your challenge?
What kind of help do you need?

37. Get into groups of 3
Everyone thinks of a challenge they’d like help
with [1 minute]

38. In turn each person plays the client while the
others act as consultants, so three times:
1. Client explains problem [1 min]
2. Clarifying questions [2 mins]
3. Client turns their back around and listens
4. Consultants discuss problem [4 mins]
5. Client turns around and debriefs [1 min]

39. What, So What,
Now What
Together, Look Back on Progress to Date
and Decide What Adjustments Are Needed
20 min

40. Observable data and experiences
Actions I take based on beliefs
Beliefs I adopt about the world
Conclusions I draw from assumptions
Assumptions I make based on meanings
Meanings I add (cultural & personal)
Data I select from observations1. What?
2. So
What?
3. Now
What?
Ladder of Inference
Emphasizes the value of a step-by-step progression in debriefing or after-action conversations. The value
of staying LOW on the ladder is visually reinforced. Misunderstandings and arguments can be avoided.

41. Get into groups of 5-7 ish

42. Look back on the past two exercises
1. What happened?
2. What did you see? hear? notice?
3. What feelings or sensations did you have?
4. What facts or observations stood out?
In silence for a minute on your
own, write your answers
1 minute

43. Share your ‘whats’ in your
group
Help each other to stay on the level
of facts and observations
Point out if you or others are jumping
ahead to conclusion, meaning or
actions
4 minute

44. Playback around the room
2 minutes

45. So what?
1. Why is that important?
2. What patterns or conclusions are emerging?
3. What hypotheses can you make?
In silence for a minute on your own,
write your answers
1 minute

46. So what?
Share in your group
Help each other to stay on the ‘so what’ level,
and avoid jumping to actions
3 minute

47. Playback around the room
2 minutes

48. Now what?
Thinking about your own work
What lessons you can draw from tonight?
What will you do differently?
Could you use one of these structures?
➢ Write down one or two ideas
➢ Identify a first action step for each
2 minute

49. Now what?
➢ Share your action ideas in pairs or threes
2 minute

50. Now what?
➢ Play back
2 minute

51. Reflections
and conclusions

52. Finding out more

53. www.LiberatingStructures.com

54. Apps available
for both iOS
and Android

55. Liberating Structures
London Meetup
@LibStructLDN
Tuesday 30th October

57. http://bit.ly/lsldnnov18
Thu 29 - Fri 30 Nov
Limited early bird tickets

58. Thank you!
David Heath
Lead Developer, GDS
david@davidheath.org
@dgheath21
Iwona Winiarska
Agile Delivery Manager, GDS
iwona@winiarska.com
@agileIwona
@LibStructLDN
bit.ly/lsslack
bit.ly/lsldnemail
Apps for iPhone and Android
www.LiberatingStructures.com