#LiberatingStructures Case Study: How I put together a string

In response to a post as well as in real life, a few people have mentioned their desire to get some insight into how strings are put together. Supply the demand I always say, so here you go. This is literally a play by play of how I put one string together 30 minutes before start.

This is where that familiarity I wrote about in the last article comes into play. Again, I cannot thank Christiaan, Barry and the rest of the Liberating Structures User Group enough for the opportunity to gain this lived experience. 

Step 1: Purpose

The foundation of any good meeting or workshop is always purpose. Why are we coming together? What questions do we want to answer? Where is the finish line of our goal? However you want to or can get clear on this, do it first. My personal preference is to pair with someone, whether they are going to be in the room or not. Pairing gives me the opportunity to reflect and enrich my perspective through another person's. If I am bringing people together on behalf of a stakeholder, then for sure I want to make use of them and their time to make the best use out of everyone’s time. For this example we were coming together to answer 1 primary question: what do we (the Scrum Master Community) want to accomplish as a group? A secondary goal also emerged which was to bring awareness to a colleagues imminent parental leave, and stimulate the pull of resources and responsibilities from them while we still have the opportunity. 

Step 2: Initial Selection

Holding that desired outcome in mind, the first thing I do is just go through the As I do so, I pull out any card that I am eager to practice, make use of or experiment with, putting them in a pile (#1). Then in another pile (#2) I place all the cards that I think might help us reach our purpose, as well as any structures that will help set the right tone that I am looking for.

Pile 1: structures I want to try

• Helping Heuristics
• Purpose to Practice
• Agreement Certainty Matrix
• Generative Relationships star
• Social network webbing

Pile 2: Prospects

• Impromptu Networking (IN)
• What? So what? Now what? (W3) 
• 1-2-4-All
• TRIZ
• Wicked Questions
• Conversation Cafe
• Integrated Autonomy
• Min Specs
• 25-10 CrowdSourcing
• 9 why’s
• What I Need From You (WINFY)
• 15% Solutions
• Design Storyboards
• Ecocycle Planning

Step 3: Narrowing Down

Next I take a look at those cards that I want to try and see if I can build something around them. Since these are the ones that I am least familiar with, this proves quite difficult and I often fail. I keep doing this though to keep the expansion of my comfort zone in mind. Sometimes I am able to find just the right thing, like the time I hosted a 30 minute retrospective around Generative Relationships, which was at the time brand new to me. This time around though I was pressed for time and I prefer to be prepared when experimenting, so meh, maybe next time.

Since nothing stuck, I then I start to sort through the stack of candidates (Pile#2) and figure out which are in and which are out. Integrated Autonomy, too long and only partially appropriate. TRIZ maybe once this question is answered. IN for sure. 15% solutions, eh maybe. Conversation Cafe could be good. Min Specs not really. 1-2-4-All every time. WINFY perfect. Wicked Questions possible. 25-10 gonna need that.

Step 4: Putting it all together

While I do this I am also thinking about how these pieces fit together. For this instance I was thinking of zeroing in, going from broad/high-level/abstract to concrete and specific actions. I literally imagine the structures filling up that funnel. Already I’ve got enough in mind to start eliminating remaining structures. If I start with IN and end with WINFY then I only really have an hour. 25-10 is quick, but put a 124All on anything and I’m down to a generous half hour (since I'm pretty loose with time boxes).

As I start to put the pieces together, I'll find a gap here or there that I then need something specific to fill. This might require me to revisit the big list of LS again and that is fine. What can help us fill in this remaining half hour and maybe slow down the pace? Yeah Conversation Cafe.

Alright:

• IN
• 124All
• CC
• 25-10
• WINFY

Step 5: Crafting Invitations

With the string in place I start drafting invitations if I haven't got one already in mind. For this workshop for example I knew from the beginning that I wanted to use impromptu networking to complete a force field analysis, I am OBSESSED with this at the moment. However I still wasn't sure about what until I started crafting invites. (To me, this is where LS really sings because they are so remix-able; not only with one another, they integrate and enrich other frameworks, exercises and templates superbly.)

Impromptu Networking to all:

1. What are the characteristics, traits and hallmarks of self organization? (How do I know it when I see it?)
2. What forces, patterns and qualities support self-organization? (Driving forces)
3. What conditions, characteristics and styles get in the way of self-organization? (Restraining forces)

   Collect and share post-it’s

1-2-4-All

What actions, tooling or patterns can we adopt or share in order to deal with the restraining forces to self organization here? 

Conversation Cafe

What will be the visible signs, metrics and changes that will show us what we are doing is working?   

25-10 Crowdsourcing

With those in mind, everyone grab your 1 personal favorite item from the 1-2-4-All brainstorm...

What I Need From You

What support, information or resources do you need from M to accomplish our item(s) before they go on parental leave in 4 weeks?

Step 6: Pregame Prep

With the strings finished I make a cheat sheet. On one sheet of paper I write down the structure, the timebox allowed for it and the invitation as well as any framework I want to use to capture or use to frame the groups thought. So the force field analysis as well as my wish for a bonus W3 to debrief the workshop (which almost always turns into a simple Return On Time Invested).

This is where this example ends since all this occurred in the 30 minutes before the workshop. If I had more time, I would want to do my extra due diligence and create an alternate string so that I could adapt/pivot towards another output or bob and weave with the group’s energy. 

Closing words of encouragement

I hope this helps make clear what may seem a little mysterious or intimidating. If this feels a long way off from where your current familiarity with LS is, my only word of advice would be to make your life easy and steal strings from wherever you can. Seriously, while I know some purists want to respond to a specific need and craft a bespoke string every time, if you’re not there yet, make good use of those that are. Stand on the shoulders of others to advance your own familiarity, confidence and skill.

I once borrowed much of a 5 day Design Sprint from this blog post. I've made use of many strings and pairings I experienced at the LS User Group in my own workshops to explore different topics (Have I mentioned you should join the user group?) Just google around and if you find someone who has explained a situation similar to yours or is pursuing an outcome like what you hope to achieve, give it a go and get yourself some feedback.

Closing Question

What I find interesting is that I have little insight in how anyone else designs strings. What does your process look like? Who should I talk to and compare notes with? Please tag them in the comments and help me learn and grow.

Closing comment

And of course feel free to ask me any questions you have, we're all on this learning journey together!

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