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The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures: Simple Rules to Unleash A Culture of Innovation
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Smart leaders know that they would greatly increase productivity and innovation if only they could get everyone fully engaged. So do professors, facilitators and all changemakers. The challenge is how. Liberating Structures are novel, practical and no-nonsense methods to help you accomplish this goal with groups of any size.
Prepare to be surprised by how simple and easy ...more
Prepare to be surprised by how simple and easy ...more
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Paperback, 366 pages
Published
February 19th 2014
by Liberating Structures Press
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If you are still working, this is a book you must have. If you are retired and working on volunteer committees, you simply must read it. If you have a family, you can't live without it. It is a book to be bought, kept, and frequently referred to. It is filled with ideas, each one better than the last, on how to increase creativity, productivity, smart problem solving, cooperation and collaboration. It is, in a word, fantastic!
Amazing structures but too much fluff
The ideas in the book are great and part 4 is amazing, however I believe it could have been condensed to make a better read
The ideas in the book are great and part 4 is amazing, however I believe it could have been condensed to make a better read
The short, straightforward facilitation tools provided in Liberating Structures are great ways of generating ideas, building connections, and learning from groups, empowering them through involvement. After reading the full set, I began to see that they'd been showing up in some of my company's team development activities all along -- to great impact.
I wish they had more tips for facilitating the decision-making process once some of the ideas are raised (they have a few structures for this but ...more
I wish they had more tips for facilitating the decision-making process once some of the ideas are raised (they have a few structures for this but ...more
Teaches you how to improve your team-work starting right after you've put it down.
Took me forever to finish.
If you want to learn about Liberating Structures I strongly suggest you go to their website which content is to be found in the book for the most part, as its authors gracefully gave the content Creative Common licence.
Some of the formats will result in more engaging meetings, at least that's what I've seen in my experience. It is also true that more complex or elaborated structures can take up to 2-3 hours and the result to be less than what it is promised. All in all, ...more
If you want to learn about Liberating Structures I strongly suggest you go to their website which content is to be found in the book for the most part, as its authors gracefully gave the content Creative Common licence.
Some of the formats will result in more engaging meetings, at least that's what I've seen in my experience. It is also true that more complex or elaborated structures can take up to 2-3 hours and the result to be less than what it is promised. All in all, ...more
Jul 14, 2019
Frank Calberg
added it
Takeaways from reading the book:
Structural elements that can be used to include people
- Page 14: Invitation.
- Page 14: How space is arranged and what materials are used. Examples: Tables, chairs, projectors, flipcharts, whiteboards.
- Page 14: How much time every participant will be given to contribute.
- Page 14: The degree of freedom that exists to change group composition, for example break up into smaller groups.
- Page 14: Purpose of each step and time allocated to each step.
Questions to start ...more
Structural elements that can be used to include people
- Page 14: Invitation.
- Page 14: How space is arranged and what materials are used. Examples: Tables, chairs, projectors, flipcharts, whiteboards.
- Page 14: How much time every participant will be given to contribute.
- Page 14: The degree of freedom that exists to change group composition, for example break up into smaller groups.
- Page 14: Purpose of each step and time allocated to each step.
Questions to start ...more
The first chapter of the book are a bit repetitive and in the tone of "this is a silver bullet that will fix all your problems", but if you can go through it and jump to the description of the Liberating Structures, they really provide helpful insight and you will finish with some experimentation in mind.
I can immediately put most of the Liberating Structures into practice in my line of work. They are exhaustively described in part four of the book.
The other three parts, however, make up the first half of the book and can be skipped. Seriously. Flip through them if you must, but then focus on the second half of the book.
The other three parts, however, make up the first half of the book and can be skipped. Seriously. Flip through them if you must, but then focus on the second half of the book.
Really good and inspiring concept and that changed my expectations as to what should be normal or not in groupwork.
Part of the book is manual so it's not cover to cover read for everyone. The manual part of each structure is available on their website so main benefit of reading the book is better buy-in into the idea.
Part of the book is manual so it's not cover to cover read for everyone. The manual part of each structure is available on their website so main benefit of reading the book is better buy-in into the idea.
A powerful, useful, inspiring pattern library with very strong foundation underneath. Not a five because:
- it’s a little salesy
- the examples are weak: limited in scope, overly rah rah, and almost all from white professionals
- the organization of the tools themselves is terrible - it’s unreasonably hard to go from the menu to the particular tools you want to explore
- it’s a little salesy
- the examples are weak: limited in scope, overly rah rah, and almost all from white professionals
- the organization of the tools themselves is terrible - it’s unreasonably hard to go from the menu to the particular tools you want to explore
I really love the content! These microstructures are perfect to transform any workplace and the material is very well fitted to get started in facilitating better meetings and conversations.
What I did not like, is the narrative style: some passages seemed repetitive to me and I wasn’t really pulled into and excited by the presentation of the content.
What I did not like, is the narrative style: some passages seemed repetitive to me and I wasn’t really pulled into and excited by the presentation of the content.
The book is fine - nothing exceptional. However, the methods themselves are fantastic, and I've had huge success with them at my organization. They are clearly written, thoughtfully designed, and easily adaptable when the situation demands it.
Liberating Structures are great
By the book was really hard to read, quite technical and not engaging.
Nevertheless, worth reading and the LS are a great facilitation tool, so if you’re facilitating teams (managers, leaders, coaches), you must know these methods.
By the book was really hard to read, quite technical and not engaging.
Nevertheless, worth reading and the LS are a great facilitation tool, so if you’re facilitating teams (managers, leaders, coaches), you must know these methods.
It's an amazing resource for facilitators, providing many activities to get groups, both large and small, engaged in useful, inclusive conversations.
Useful, but I prefer the Liberating Structures app or website to the physical book.
I like the concept of liberating structures. I think the book is more a sales brochure than an essay about ls. A lot of useless texts.
Introduction is a bit long. The exercises are very powerful. I put quite some into practice and it really does what it says it does!
Great ideas. Poor format.
The structures are helpful to guide conversations, but the format of the book is a little awkward. The actually useful stuff is more than halfway in.
If your life involves facilitating groups trying to solve problems, to work together, to communicate -- read this book. Use this book.
This is AMAZING.
This is AMAZING.
This is a goldmine to revitalize broken and misused modes of communicating collaboratively with any group of people. I'm thinking of all the great applications for global understanding in cross-cultural environments.
A note of instruction on how to read the book. Start with Part 4, the field guide, on P. 163. Work backward as needed from there. Disregard the first 5 apologetic chapters entirely.
A note of instruction on how to read the book. Start with Part 4, the field guide, on P. 163. Work backward as needed from there. Disregard the first 5 apologetic chapters entirely.
This is an inspiring, engaging and thoughtful book and action plan to enliven any meeting, learning activity, retreat, symposium, change event, etc. that you may do or organize. I've begun to try the activities and experiment with the techniques, and am seeing enjoyment and engagement in my workplace increase!
Liberating structures are Amazing! Reading the book is powered up by consulting the web site in parallel and experimenting LS with friends & colleagues.
Just want to start right now? Try the 1-2-4-All
Just want to start right now? Try the 1-2-4-All
awesome book. even simple things applied in real life significantly increase engagement of any group
I love these guys and use Liberating Structures a lot in my work. Did not love the book, however.
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“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves.” Tolstoy”
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“The importance of self-discovery and cocreation doesn’t stop with purpose. They are just as essential for making sense of challenges and for developing solutions that are likely to be adopted, adaptable, and successful. What is standard in most organizations is importing best practices or imposing practices from above. The assumption that a best practice will work everywhere is just too convenient to resist. So is the assumption that local context and people, though important, will not matter enough to make the difference. Plus, best practices fit nicely with the deep-seated notion that reinventing the wheel is a waste of time and money. Unfortunately, importing or imposing best practices usually involves trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Context, culture, and people do matter more than we like to admit, and resistance inevitably emerges when we discount them.”
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