Purpose
We want to create opportunities for everyone (including ourselves) to become what they are capable of becoming. Plus, we want to inspire more kindness and reduce suffering in the world.
Since we are painfully aware that we cannot do it alone, we created this website to share to the fullest extend possible our ideas, wisdom, experiences and materials, and to invite you to join in.
We want everyone to learn to foster big changes by inviting people to make small structural changes in how they work together. With the same resources people using Liberating Structures in place of traditional structures will generate surprisingly better results.
We think this is a big opportunity because it appears to be true regardless of the context, the culture and the nature of the work or challenge. It is true at work, in classrooms and in communities. We think it is a big deal because Liberating Structures are so simple that everybody can learn to use them. This makes it possible for change to emerge from within instead of being coerced from the top.
Liberating Structures make it easy for leaders of all levels to create conditions for people to work at the top of their intelligence and creativity. In this environment, people thrive and enjoy their work. It is also the path to top performance.
Practice is the only way to discover the amazing differences that Liberating Structures can spark. Since practice is also the only way to master the use of Liberating Structures, we focused our attention on “how to” descriptions. We have tried to make them practical, easy to follow and concrete. Preview our book here.
We have chosen not to copyright any of our work and instead publish it under a Creative Commons License. We want to make it as easy as possible for everyone to feel free to use, copy, and disseminate this material and make his or her corner of the world a better place.
Join us in getting Liberating Structures into the drinking water!
Only you can tell how well we succeeded in this purpose. We treasure your suggestions for and contributions to Liberating Structures.
With appreciation,
Keith and Henri
Below are drawings completed by us during LS workshops. See Drawing Together for interpretation of the symbols. Each illustrates elements of our purpose in developing Liberating Structures.
UNIVERSAL CHALLENGE
Our world is increasingly complex, interdependent, and culturally diverse. The most pressing challenges we face cut across geographic, cultural, and technical boundaries. Working together productively with difference is central to making progress.
PROBLEM
Unwittingly, the conventional structures used to organize how people routinely work together stifle inclusion and engagement while neglecting the diverse talents needed to make progress together.
SOLUTION
Liberating Structures (LS) are novel and practical how-to methods to help you include and unleash everyone in shaping next steps. LS distribute control so that participants can shape direction themselves as the action unfolds.
ACTION
With LS, it is simple and easy to learn tiny shifts in the way we meet, plan, decide and relate to one another. No lengthy training courses or special skills are required; mastery is simply a matter of practice.
