The Problem with Conventional Structures

Most meetings rely on a handful of methods: presentations, open discussions, managed Q&A, and status reports. These give control to a small number of people — usually those with the most authority — while leaving most participants as passive observers.

The result: groupthink, disengagement, missed ideas, and solutions that don't reflect the full intelligence of the group.

What Makes a Structure "Liberating"?

Every Liberating Structure is designed around five elements that determine how power and participation flow in a group:

• The Invitation — the question or challenge given to participants
• How Space is Arranged — physical setup and materials
• How Participation is Distributed — who speaks and when
• How Groups are Configured — solo, pairs, small groups, whole group
• Sequence & Time — structured steps and timing

Tweaking any of these elements changes the power dynamics entirely.

Who Created Them?

Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless developed the original 33 Liberating Structures over many years of practice in organizational change, healthcare improvement, and leadership development.

The original collection was published in their book The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures and is available open-source at liberatingstructures.com.

The new Liberating Structures Fieldbook expands the collection to 43 — adding 10 new structures developed by the broader LS community.

The Most Popular Structures to Start With

If you're new to Liberating Structures, these are the ones most widely used and easiest to learn. They form the foundation of most facilitators' practice:

1-2-4-All

Impromptu Networking

Troika Consulting

TRIZ

What, So What, Now What?

Wicked Questions

15% Solutions

25/10 Crowdsourcing

Wise Crowds

Min Specs

Click any icon to open its full details in the Explorer.

The Six Categories in This Hub

• Connect Open sessions, build trust, and establish relationships
• Generate Produce ideas, options, and creative possibilities
• Reflect Make sense of experience and surface insights
• Solve Address problems, make decisions, and resolve tensions
• Plan Develop strategy, map systems, and design next steps
• Coach Share expertise, give feedback, and build peer learning

The 10 New Structures

The Liberating Structures Fieldbook adds 10 new methods developed by the LS practitioner community:

• Mad Tea | Calm Tea
• Spiral Journal
• Folding Spectrogram
• Positive Gossip
• Principles Walk-Around
• Network Relationship Patterns
• Grief Walking
• Future~Present
• Talking with Pixies
• Strategy Knotworking

Filter by ✨ New (10) in the Explore tab to see only these structures.