Tips & Resources

Research

Skim this article written by LS founders Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless and learn what they are and why they are so powerful: "Liberating Structures: Change Methods for Everybody Every Day." [new tab]

Browse the following Liberating Structures [new tab] website sections:

The Liberating Structures Menu [new tab]- Jump off from this page to view all LS structures AND you can also get to them through the LS Menu drop downs. (Hint: LS Structures info is also available on the Liberating Structures app Android [new tab] and iOS)[new tab]
The Liberating Structures Principles [new tab] - There are 10 principles that guide our behaviour using LS.
MicroStructures and the Five Design Elements [new tab] - This page tells us why Liberating Structures are different from 'conventional' structures and the five design elements that all LS structures have which make them so powerful.

The LS Selection Matchmaker [PDF] is a super useful resource that shows the purpose of all the structures in the set of 33. Use this to help you match your purpose to the purpose statements for each LS.

Skim Liberating Structures in B.C. Post-Secondary Education: How are They Spreading? [PDF] Page 3 lists the most frequently-used Liberating Structures in post-secondary education in case you're curious about a structure to potentially try first.

This Liberating Structures Iceberg [new tab] article from Keith McCandless (one of the founders of Liberating Structures) explains how we might evolve in our Liberating Structures practice.

Read about how Liberating Structures are rooted in Complexity Science [new tab] and Positive Deviance [new tab] if you're curious about the underpinnings.

Discover why Liberating Structures are so relevant in these times: "Tiny Changes Making a Huge Difference: Responding to Covid-19" [new tab]

Design Tips

If you've tried many of the structures that are part of the original set of 33 maybe you're ready to challenge yourself by trying a new, emerging structure on the LS in Development [new tab] page.

Each structure in the LS menu has a structuring invitation; use the ones that in the menu descriptions or modify for your own purposes. Try a few drafts of the invitation that you will use with participants as part of the structure. This article on the Characteristics of Powerful Invitations for Liberating Structures [new tab] should give you some early guidance.

To help you sharpen your invitation, try "playing it out" a bit in your mind - or with an LS-exploring or savvy friend - to see how it would go, asking yourself what participants might think about or say in response to that invitation. Is it too broad or too narrow? Just right? Creating an excellent invitation is a little like Goldilocks trying out all three of the bears' beds [new tab] in this giphy!

This Liberating Structures Design Storyboard (blank template) [PDF] is a great tool to help you in your planning of LS.

Think about whether you want to try one Liberating Structure or a string of two or more structures in a row. Keep your purpose in mind as you work on LS "strings" [new tab].

Further Connections

Learn more about Liberating Structures from a very active global community by joining the LS #Slack group [new tab]. They are very active in exploring how to facilitate using Liberating Structures online and share many visuals and resources.

Consider following or joining the activities of local/regional Liberating Structures User groups based in Victoria/Vancouver Island [new tab] and Vancouver [new tab].