Transcript Slide 1

Liberating Structures:
Engaging Everyone in Change
Plexus Institute
Jeff Cohn
Lisa Kimball
[email protected]
[email protected]
Structure of Speed Networking
1. Space
– Open
– Standing face to face
2. Participation
– Everybody at once
and at the same time +
equal time for all
3. Configurations
– Pairs
– Strangers preferably
4. Time allocation
– 2 minutes per person
– 3 rounds
5. Conceptual Framework
– 1 issue question
– 1 solution question
Components of all Structures
1. Space: physical arrangements
2. Participation: who is included, how, when and
how much
3. Configurations: sizes and composition of groups
4. Time allocation: time spent in each
configuration
5. Conceptual framework: a concept, a question or
a purpose that informs the interaction
The Science of Change
Technical Challenges
Adaptive Challenges
Known solutions
Solutions unknown (and
unknowable in advance)
Best (or good enough) practices Solution that is fit for purpose
Expertise beneficial
Beyond authoritarian expertise
Current structures can be used
Change in behaviors, structures,
beliefs
Standardization, minimize
variation
Discovery, exploration, learning
Implementation
Emergence
Awareness Iceberg
4%
known to
top leaders
9%
known to
middle managers
74%
known to
supervisors
100%
Action unleashed
@ the front line
Internationally acclaimed study conducted by Sidney Yoshida,
initially presented at the International Quality Symposium
known to
the front line
Tactic #1
Change the Conversation
Changing the
Conversation Changes….
EVERYTHING
Decentralized, Small Talk
Polite Conversation
• Autonomous
• Unconnected
• Unstable
relationships
• Diverse
• Random
Centralized, Ordered Discussion
Facilitated, Bureaucratic Talk
• Largely dependent
• Connected by
power/permission
• Fixed relationships
• Uniform
• Top down, center out
Distributed, Generative Talk
Messy, Loose, Complex & Creative
• Largely autonomous
contributions
• Connected by simple rules
that guide local
relationships
• Diverse and uniform
participation
• Growth from any point in
any direction
• Order arises out of local
interaction & conversation
Jamming happens spontaneously,
whenever two or three or (best
case scenario) a dozen or more are
joined in common purpose ,
common practice, and common
desire to raise the bar for everyone
involved.
Liberating Structures
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YES
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Best practices imported
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Self-discovery in groups
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Top-down, outside-in
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Down-up, inside-out
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Deficit based “What’s wrong
here?”
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Asset based “What’s right here?”
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Simple methods for mundane &
sublime challenges
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Personal development within a
complex social milieu
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Attracting and inviting ownership
+ unleashing the wisdom of
diverse crowds
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Technical, analytic “expert”
training
“Mountain-top” personal
development
Buy-in and alignment strategies
to overcome resistance in subgroups
New Option for Transformation
→ Same people
→ Same incentives
→ Same organizational structure
→ NEW CONVERSATIONS
Tactic #2
Change How You Solve Problems
The Power
of Positive Deviance
Solutions before our very eyes
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Every community
Certain individuals/groups
Uncommon practices/behaviors
Better solutions
Same resources
Focus on Practice
Rather than Knowledge
“It’s easier to ACT your way into a new way of THINKING,
than to THINK your way into a new way of ACTING”
Problem Solving Approaches
Flows from problem analysis
towards solution
Flows from identification
and analysis of successful
solution to problem solving
Fixed
Solution
Space
Perceived Problem Parameters
Transformational
Perceived Problem Parameters
Traditional
Perceived Problem Parameters
Actual Problem
Actual Problem
Parameters
Parameters
Expanded
SolutionSolution
Expanded
Space
Space
Actual Problem
Parameters
TRADITIONAL VS TRANSFORMATIONAL
PROBLEM SOLVING APPROACHES
TRADITIONAL
Transformational
Externally Fueled (by “experts” or
internal authority)
Internally Fueled (by “people like us”,
same culture and resources)
Top-down, Outside-in
Down-up, Inside-out
Deficit Based “What’s wrong here?”
Asset Based “What’s right here?”
Begins with analysis of underlying
causes of PROBLEM
Begins with analysis of demonstrably
successful SOLUTIONS
Solution Space limited by perceived
problem parameters
Solution Space enlarged through
discovery of actual parameters
Triggers Immune System “defense
response”
Bypasses Immune System (solution
shares same “DNA” as host)
What do you know about engaging staff so development
efforts “stick?”
What do YOU do to make PD efforts stick?
What keeps you from doing that 100% of the time?
Has anyone found a way to get around those obstacles? How?
What ideas would you like to try to get around current
barriers?
What would it take to make that happen? Who else would
need to be involved?
What action(s) are you willing to commit to?
Picking a Place to Start
Through addressing a discrete part of a complex
problem (.. a fractal of the whole)
… we impact
all the underlying
structural issues.
Key Attributes of a Good Fit
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Behavior change of others needed
Larger community cares about challenge
Global practices not spreading locally
Challenge widely distributed
Pockets of positive change in local settings
Intractable, inducing “pain”
Group of leaders interested in trying
something new/bold
Where do you find MRSA in
Hospitals?
Everywhere!
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All invited and included
The Palmer Method
Engagement, engagement,
engagement!
…in an array of proven social change processes,
featuring Positive Deviance, designed to engage everyone in:
Discovering which of their
practices can play a role in
the transmission of MRSA
Spreading effective practices,
creating new practices and
deciding what changes they
need to make personally and
together
One of the most powerful lessons for
leaders is to generate simple or
minimum rules rather than
maximum specifications.
This fosters innovation … solutions
…evolution.
Less is more.
Simple & Complex Approaches
Simple
Complex
• Plan then act
• Create explicit plans
• Look for agreement &
a clear outcome
• Limit type of actions
• Drive implementation
& set targets
•“Act-learn-plan” at
the same time
• Look for divergence
• Use multiple actions
& min specs
• Tune to the edge
• Build on what
emerges & grows
The 15% Principle
• Learning how to “flow” with & “tune to” change in
complex systems
• W. Edwards Deming suggested that everyone -- from
the CEO to the front line worker -- has influence over
15% of their system. The other 85% is beyond their
discretionary control.
• Recognize that you have 15% discretionary
influence… it may sound small but you can use it to
make a difference that makes a difference.
“How To” Disturb & Amplify
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Allow new information into the system
Work with organizational boundaries
Connect systems to environment
Question differences
Challenge assumptions
Take advantage of chance and serendipity
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Adapted from: Jeffrey Goldstein, The Unshackled Organization