Plexus Institute

1. Plexus Institute LIBERATING STRUCTURES Using the Science of Change Lisa Kimball lisa@groupjazz.com Minneapolis April 12, 2012 MNODN www.plexusinstitute.org

2. Structure of Speed Networking • Space • Open • Standing face to face • Participation • Everybody at once and at the same time + equal time for all • Configurations • Pairs • Strangers preferably 4. Time allocation • 2 minutes per person • 3 rounds 5. Conceptual Framework • 1 issue question • 1 solution question

3. Components of all Structures • Space: physical arrangements • Participation: who is included, how, when and how much • Configurations:sizes and composition of groups • Time allocation: time spent in each configuration • Conceptual framework: a concept, a question or a purpose that informs the interaction

4. “….the next century will be the century of complexity.” (Steven Hawking, 20th Century)

5. What is Complexity Science? • Science that attempts to: • Understand and explain the behavior and dynamics of systems composed of many interacting elements • Uncover the principles and processes that explain how order, change and innovation emerge in these systems

6. Before Complexity • Scientists believed the future was knowable given enough data points • Dissecting discrete parts would reveal how everything -- the whole system -- works • Phenomena can be reduced to simple cause & effect relationships • The role of scientists, technology, & leaders was to predict and control the future • Increasing levels of control over nature would improve our quality of life

7. Newton & the Machine Metaphor • In science • the search for the basic building blocks • In society • The whole is no more or no less than the sum of parts, so focus on the parts (e.g. functions, detailed plans, disciplines) • Organizations, health systems and people are implicitly viewed as machines (or machine parts)

8. From Physics Envy To Biology Envy Simple Complex

9. Interdependent Attributes Adaptable Elements Self-Organization & Emergence Embedded Systems Order & Disorder Distributed Control Diversity Non-Linearity

12. The appearance of control is always an illusion. Gayle Pergamit & Chris Peterson

13. Confusion is a word we have invented for an order that is not yet understood. Henry Miller

16. Problems & OpportunitiesAwareness Iceberg 4% known to top leaders 9% known to middle managers 74% known to supervisors 100% known to the front line Action unleashed @ the front line Internationally acclaimed study conducted by Sidney Yoshida, initially presented at the International Quality Symposium

20. The Importance of Engagement • Widens the circle of involvement • Involves the whole system • Increases commitment and energy • Connects people to each other and to ideas • Generates better solutions • Creates communities for action • Turns meetings into working sessions • Speeds up implementation

21. New Option for Transformation • Same people • Same incentives • Same organizational structure • NEW CONVERSATIONS

22. Relationships and CONVERSATIONS

23. Decentralized, Small Talk • Fully autonomous • Unconnected • Unstable relationships • Diverse or Uniform • Random growth Polite Conversation

24. Centralized, Ordered Discussion • Largely dependent • Connected by power/permission • Fixed relationships • Uniform • Growth from center out Facilitated, Bureaucratic Talk

25. Distributed, Generative Talk • 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 Messy, Loose, Complex & Creative

26. Rapid learning & prototyping cycles Feedback loops Network weaving Innovative ways to harvest output Natural environment Movement, Fun Social elements, mixing participants Methods that shift interactions • Stories versus PPT • Listening, Silence • Big Questions • Improvising • Diversity of formats: pairs, small groups, large groups • Focus on purpose • Inviting participation, minimizing status differences

27. Appreciative Interviews Agreement / Uncertainty Matrix Creative Destruction via TRIZ Wicked Questions Min Specs Chunking via Rapid Prototyping Improv 15% Solutions Open Space Technology Ecocycle Sifting & Gathering Panarchy: Cross-Scale Change Conversation Café Dialogue Discovery & Action Dialogue Wise Crowds Group Consultation 15. Smart Network Mapping 16. Generative Relationships 17. Purpose-To-Practice Design 18. Scenario Planning Critical Uncertainties 19. Impromptu Speed Networking 20. 1-2-4-Whole Group 21. Troika Consulting 22. Fishbowl Sessions – “What I Need From You” 23. Celebrity Interview 24. 5 Whys & 10 Hows 25. Storyboarding Agendas 26. Positive Deviance Liberating StructuresSome examples of an expanding, adaptable mash-up of open source methods We search for the minimum structure to liberate the maximum innovation

28. Simple & fast to learn Requires very little explanation or theory Draws out insight from interaction Works with groups, units, or the whole organization Focuses attention on relationship patterns Minimally structured for maximum liberation Generates surprises & novelty without central control (light coordination only) Invites seriously-playful participation Appeals to people in diverse roles Generates very short- and long-term results Illuminates an edge or paradoxical territory Identifies and builds on assets that exist now Invites inclusion & more diverse voices Works with internal and external customers Attributes of LS MethodsWhat Other Methods Come To Mind?

29. Liberating Structures Workshop • 30 + different methods • Single organization: all layers together, top to bottom • Community with shared interests • Ideal 2.5 days + 2 days of coaching sessions • Experiential, “try it NOW” • Intense, Rapid Cycles • Fun, Seriously! • Complexity Theory – little or none, adjustable to interests • Focus on real challenges, mundane and sublime

30. Typical Workshop Agenda

31. Learning Approach Experiential learning with a minimal amount of “telling” and a maximum of self-discovery Methods are introduced and woven into interactions around key challenges selected by participants We draw out and build on the direct experience of everyone in the room Goal: Everyone walks out thinking, “I can do this myself!” We search for the minimum structure to liberate the maximum innovation

32. Power in Combining Elements! A mix of top, middle & front line participants (+ customers) Invitation to try many simple methods to your challenges immediately Immersion in a large # of simple self-organizing methods Focus on complex challenges that require diverse participation to make progress One on one coaching to launch immediate use in local context Rapid cycles jointly shaping solutions & insights in-the-moment

33. Why So Many, So Fast? • Every person is likely to find two or three LS they like and want to start using. (A few people will find many) • LS are modular. They can be mashed-up and spur new inventions very quickly. • Participants see patterns across the LS and gain confidence with experience. • Quickly using them demonstrates LS are forgiving. You can get great results without tight fidelity. • Rapid cycles show that ideas/answers come from many sources and levels, not all from the top.

34. What is Complexity Science? • Science that attempts to: • Understand and explain the behavior and dynamics of systems composed of many interacting elements • Uncover the principles and processes that explain how order, change and innovation emerge in these systems

35. Surprising Convergence:We Stand on the Shoulders of Giants Chemistry Ilya Prigogine, Order Out of Chaos Complex Adaptive Systems ((( Murray Gell-Mann ))) The Quark & the Jaguar ((( Stuart Kaufmann ))) At Home in the Universe ((( John Holland ))) Emergence ((( Brian Arthur ))) Increasing Returns Physiology Ary Goldberger, Cardiac Research Sociology Robert Alexrod, Complexity of Cooperation Physics David Bohm, Wholeness & the Implicate Order Socio-Biology E.O. Wilson Consilience Meteorology Edward Lorenz, The Butterfly Effect Computer Science Christopher Langton Mathematics Mandlebrot, Fractals

36. Before Complexity • Scientists believed the future was knowable given enough data points • Dissecting discrete parts would reveal how everything -- the whole system -- works • Phenomena can be reduced to simple cause & effect relationships • The role of scientists, technology, & leaders was to predict and control the future • Increasing levels of control over nature would improve our quality of life

37. Newton & the Machine Metaphor • In science • the search for the basic building blocks • In management • The whole is no more or no less than the sum of parts, so focus on the parts (e.g. functions, disciplines) • Organizations and people are implicitly viewed as machines (or machine parts)

38. From Physics Envy To Biology Envy

39. Focus on Systems • Study of Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) • Patterns of interactions within them • Outcomes that emerge from them • How systems actually behave, not how we think or expect them to behave

40. System implies: Multiple Agents Agents are Interdependent and Connected Complex implies: Diversity Many Elements Large Number of Connections Adaptive implies: Capacity to Alter or Change What is a Complex Adaptive System?

41. Embeddedness: Each CAS made up of other CAS and is part of (embedded in) a larger CAS Diversity:A CAS has many different elements. This enables a CAS to change Properties of CAS HEALTH SYSTEM HOSPITAL UNIT NURSE

42. Distributed Control: In a CAS control is shared by many elements, rather than centralized in a single command center Coexistence of Order and Disorder: In a healthy adaptive system, order and disorder coexist Properties of CAS

43. Properties of CAS • Because CAS are Nonlinear, a small change may produce a large effect, or a large change may produce a small or no effect • Inability to Predict:Outcomes are unpredictable The Butterfly Effect

44. Emergence:In a CAS outcomes emerge through a process ofSelf-Organizationrather than through centrally planned or directed processes Properties of CAS

45. Interdependent Attributes Adaptable Elements Self-Organization & Emergence Embedded Systems Order & Disorder Distributed Control Diversity Non-Linearity

46. Results Liberating Structures help groups liberate energy, tap into collective intelligence, be creatively adaptable, and build on each other's ideas to get results. “After several other conference sessions with one or two individuals dominating the talk and focusing on their issues only we were able to accomplish much more in a day, than in the previous two days prior.” • Division Chief, US Army Cadet Command

47. Bias for Action “I didn’t think we were going to be able to pull together so many different departments that had not been at the same meeting before without spending hours making presentations to explain what we were all doing. I was amazed that we just got right to work! By the end of the day we were on the same page and had a way forward on things it would have taken us weeks of meetings to accomplish.” - Program Manager, DC Office of the State Superintendant of Education The process designs come from theories and principles about self-organization, diffusion of innovation, and change.

48. NO Best practices imported Top-down, outside-in Deficit based “What’s wrong here?” Technical, analytic “expert” training “Mountain-top” personal development Buy-in and alignment strategies to overcome resistance in sub-groups YES Self-discovery in groups Down-up, inside-out Asset based “What’s right here?” Simple methods for mundane & sublime challenges Personal development within a complex social milieu Attracting and inviting ownership + unleashing the wisdom of diverse crowds Liberating Structures Defined