Nancy White

Scenario: A group of LS practitioners are working on ways to better "string" and use LS for strategic planning in complex situations. Aka "knotworking." We want to meet once a month online synchronously on Zoom to advance this practice. Everyone will be familiar with both LS I'm proposing, so I won't need to do a lot of explaining of the steps. 

Purpose:

Instead of just talking about using LS, use LS for our own learning community on a regular basis. Use at least 2 LS per meeting, one focused on the relational aspects of our learning group, and one to make progress on our work. This design is for the June meeting. 

Selected Liberating Structures:

1. Appreciative Interviews to identify where we are having success even TALKING about this strategic planning approach and in the process, get to know each other better by actively listening.

2. Ecocycle: Identify where our current knotworking practices are.

3. What, So What, Now What to debrief the meeting.

Invitation:

1. Appreciative Interviews:  Where are we having success in introducing knotworking? Why? 

2. Ecocycle: Where are our individual and current knotworking practices? 

3. WWW: to surface the lessons from Ecocycle (and maybe AI too?)

For AI:

• Slide with instructions
• Zoom breakout room prepared for pairs
• Google doc for note taking

For Ecocycle: 

• Google slides w/ ecocycle diagram, one slide for each person with prepped "electronic" post its
• Zoom breakout rooms for trios or pairs (depends on group size)

For WWW:

• use chat to capture

Participation distribution:

1. AI: Everyone is included

2.  Ecocycle: Everyone is included

3. WWW: Everyone is included

Group configuration:

1. AI: Pairs then fours if big group, otherwise all

2. Ecocycle: 1-2 All or 1-3 - all

3. 1:All

Sequencing & Time: (I'm running out of time to finish...)

• AI: 20 minutes
• Ecocycle: 45 mins . 1. First, alone, think of  your knotworking practice. What is in maturity? What needs creative destruction? What is emerging and what is in the process of being born. List your current KW activities/practices, then place them on your Ecocycle slide. Put your name in the title box. You have 4 minutes. 2. In a moment, you will be put into pairs/Trios in zoom breakout rooms. Share your Ecocycles and use this time to get clearer on your own practice AND see it through the eyes and practices of another practitioner. Note areas of similarities and differences. You have 10 minutes - then we'll use WWW to debrief.
• WWW: 10 mins 1. First alone, then all:  What happened when you created and shared your knotworking ecocycles? Harvest into chat. Probe for data, feelings, observations. 2. So What? How do you/we interpret this data in terms of our knotworking practices? Now What?  Identify our next steps as a CoP based on what we learned. 

Hiya, I'm a long time LS practitioner based in Seattle and know a bunch of y'all from the educational context I've been so happy to dip into up in BC over the years. 

• What big question do you have about Liberating Structures as we begin our time together?

I'm currently working on two fronts in terms of big questions. One is on the cultural/contextual issues - how we consider them in our application and/or adaptation of LS. I have SO MUCH to learn. 

The second is on the application of strings of LS to strategic planning on complex contexts - not quite an edu question but of course we all work in complex settings?

An ongoing question is shared with many here, and that is the online use of LS. This will be my first experience of using LS online asynchronously!!!! WOO HOO!

• What do you hope to get from and give this group this week?

Give? Whatever any one might need that I can offer. As a long time practitioner, I'm available!

(Edited by Beth Cougler Blom - original submission Monday, 3 June 2019, 10:09 AM - to replace the image with a smaller file)

I am strongly influenced by this article: which resonates with my reluctance to formulaic tick the box, but I acknowledge I have to start somewhere! https://apihtawikosisan.com/2016/09/beyond-territorial-acknowledgments/

I acknowledge with both my gratitude and knowledge of my own ignorance that I live, work and exist on the ancestral lands of the many Coast Salish tribes. I am a settler with my family coming from Italy, Holland, Ireland and England and my relations are scattered across the US, Argentina, Taiwan and England. I am married into a family who came from Poland and England, the latter as an indentured servant who went on to own a plantation, likely with slaves. I acknowledge I am learning and I'm am grateful for the opportunity.

I'm a freelancer and work with all kinds of groups. One I'm working with now is a network of people working on a floodplain approach called "Floodplains by Design." In this work we are working with, on and around Tribal lands and the work is deeply rooted in Tribal ways and governance. As we meet, I struggle with how to authentically acknowledge Indigenous lands in a way that resonates through our time and work together. So I'm here! 

Most know I'm a chocoholic. Some know we are raising our granddaughters. Few know I used to play in a bluegrass band!

Thanks

Nancy

We have quite a few links, resources and other goodies to share with you. We'll put links here. Please feel free to add good stuff you have. First off, we recommend you join our RosViz Facebook group (it grew out of the first workshop Michelle and I did). It is a treasure chest of links. Just ask to join and one of us will approve you as soon as we are on FB! We're looking forward to our time together!