Engage in Seriously Playful Curiosity with Liberating Structures - Drawing Together

How it used to go

The conversation was careful. Perhaps too careful.

In meetings, much was said, well-formulated too. People thought before they spoke. Arguments were logical, positions balanced. And yet the feeling lingered that they were circling around something.

As if everyone was trying to describe the same landscape — but always from a different angle.

When she asked what people were really concerned about, abstract answers came. About processes, priorities, complexity. Understandable, but distant.

She saw it happening: the conversation remained polite, but lost its vitality. Curiosity gave way to caution.
And without curiosity, little new happens.

A new structure

During a work session, she didn’t put questions on the table, but markers.

“Today we’re going to do something different,” she said.
“Not to be creative, but to see what we don’t yet see.”

She introduced Drawing Together.
Everyone got paper and color. The assignment was simple:

“Draw how you experience our current situation.”

With a catch: use only the 5 symbols or combinations of them.
She drew all 5 symbols and their meanings on a flip chart. After that, it was up to the group.

No right or wrong.
Just draw.

There was laughter. Someone sighed. Someone said they “couldn’t draw”.
She let it happen.

After drawing, she invited people to share their drawings in small groups. Not to explain them, but to describe what they saw — in themselves and in each other. What interpretations did people have of each other’s drawings?

Then they came together and discussed what these drawings collectively revealed.

What was liberated

What came loose was imagination.
Instead of opinions, images appeared. Paths. Walls. Bridges. Currents. Things that were previously difficult to put into words now lay visibly on the table.

People listened differently. Not to respond, but to look.

“I hadn’t seen it that way yet.”
“This explains why I keep getting stuck.”

The conversation became more curious. Less defensive. It was no longer about being right, but about understanding.
There was even pleasure. Not from lightness, but from recognition.

What shifted

To be completely honest? After this session, people didn’t draw more often.

But something new had emerged: Insight into the limitations of our language. And that we often think we understand each other, but that probing deeper and sharing our interpretations can bring completely different meanings to the table.

After Drawing Together she used 1-2-4-All to hear what these drawings and this exercise made visible.

With What, So What, Now What? imagination was connected to action: what do we see, what does this mean, what does this ask of us now? This structure became a regular recurring component during joint reflection moments.

The culture shifted from correct talking to exploratory looking together.