Liberating Structures

Integrated~Autonomy

Move from either-or to robust both-and solutions. This structure helps you engage everyone in sharper strategic thinking, mutual understanding, and collaborative action by surfacing the advantage of being both more integrated and more autonomous.

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Integrated~Autonomy

Move from either-or to robust both-and solutions.

Strategize

In person & Online

Group

80 min.

What is made possible - What it unlocks

Integrated~Autonomy makes it possible to attend to paradox and reveal opportunities for profound leaps in performance. The structure helps groups address critical questions: What mix of integrative control and autonomous freedom will advance our purpose? Where do our needs for global fidelity and consistency meet the needs for local customization and creative adaptability? By working with these tensions productively, you can avoid the bipolar swings in strategy that are frequently experienced by many organizations — unlocking the creative power of being both more coordinated and more free to adapt.

When to use it

When teams are unclear which decisions require alignment versus local freedom
When you want to identify concrete actions that serve both coordination and flexibility simultaneously
When there’s tension between standardization requests from leadership and customization needs from local teams
To move beyond either-or debates and discover practical both-and solutions
When you need action steps (not just principles) for balancing control and autonomy
During strategy sessions where you want to turn abstract tensions into tangible next steps
When scaling initiatives and you need clarity on what must be consistent versus what can vary

🛠️ The five design elements of Integrated~Autonomy

Each Liberating Structure consists of five simple design elements to make participation possible for everyone. By shaping these elements with care, you move beyond rigid control or chaos and create space for people to contribute, listen, and co-create.

1. The Invitation
2. Setup & Materials
3. Participation Flow
4. Group Configuration
5. Sequence & Timing

1. The Invitation

How you frame the purpose or question that sets the focus and energy of the group.

Invite your group to explore the questions, “Will our purpose be best served by increased local autonomy, customization, competition, and freedom among units/sites? Or, will our purpose be best served by increased integration, standardization, and control among units/sites? Or, both?”

2. Setup & Materials

The arrangement of space and which tools or resources are needed to support interaction.

Chairs for people to sit in groups of 4, with or without small tables
An “Integrated Autonomy Worksheet” (see free download below) for each participant and a large one on the wall.
Paper for recording activities and action steps
Digital: online whiteboard

3. Participation Flow

Who gets a voice and how everyone is actively included in the process.

All central unit leaders and local unit leaders involved in the challenge at hand are included
Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. Group Configuration

How people are arranged (alone, small groups, or all together) and how this shifts during the activity.

Individually to generate topics
Small groups of 4
Whole group

5. Sequence & Timing

The step-by-step flow of the activity and the time given to each step to keep energy and focus.

Introduce the idea of Integrated~Autonomy for the topic at hand by asking, “How is it that we can be more integrated and more autonomous at the same time?” Have examples from past experience ready for sharing. (5 min)
Use 1-2-4-All to generate a list of activities that require attention by asking, “Where is there tension between our desire to standardize and the request for more customizing or autonomy?” (10 min)
Ask participants to work in groups of four, and pick one activity from the list and ask, “What is the rationale for standardizing? What is the rationale for customizing?” (10 min)
Using 1-2-4 develop action steps that achieve standardization. Using 1-2-4, develop action steps that achieve customization. (10 min)
Ask, “Which actions boost both standardization (group A) and customization (group C)?” See worksheet below. (5 min)
Ask, “What modifications or creative ideas can be adopted to move some actions from group A to group B or from group C to group B?” See worksheet below. (15 min)
Using 1-2-4-All, prioritize the most promising actions that promote both integration and autonomy. (10 min)
Refine action steps by developing some effective Liberating Structures strings

Total time: 80 minutes

Online version

Adapted for virtual use, with the same impact

All the steps are the same as described above.
Use a digital whiteboard for collaborating together by placing activities in the Integrated ~ Autonomy template (see free worksheet below)

Prepare breakout rooms for the small groups to work in.

Total time: 80 minutes

Solo version

Adapted for individual use and personal development

Review the Integrated~Autonomy concept and template. Reflect on the question: “How can I/we be more integrated (standardized) AND more autonomous (customized) at the same time?” Think of examples from your own experience. (5 min)
Brainstorm a list of activities, processes, or decisions in your context where there’s tension between the desire to standardize and the request for more customization or autonomy. Write down 8-12 examples. (10 min)
Pick one activity from your list. Write down: What is the rationale for standardizing this? What is the rationale for customizing this? Explore both sides thoroughly. (10 min)
For this same activity, brainstorm action steps that would achieve standardization. Then brainstorm action steps that would achieve customization. Create two separate lists. (10 min)
Review both lists and identify which actions boost BOTH standardization and customization simultaneously. Mark these – they go in Group B on your worksheet (the integration~autonomy sweet spot). Put standardization-only actions in Group A, customization-only actions in Group C. (5 min)
Look at your Group A and Group C actions. Ask yourself: “What modifications or creative ideas could move some of these actions into Group B?” Can you tweak standardization actions to also enable autonomy? Can you adjust customization actions to also create helpful consistency? Write down your ideas. (15 min)
Review all your Group B actions (original plus modified ones). Prioritize the 3-5 most promising actions that genuinely promote both integration and autonomy. (10 min)
For your top priorities, refine the action steps: What specifically will you do? When? Who needs to be involved? Write concrete next steps. (10 min)
If helpful, repeat steps 3-8 for another activity from your original list. Set a reminder to revisit your Integrated~Autonomy work as you implement changes. (2 min)

Total time: ~ 75 minutes

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All Liberating Structures in 1 e-book

All Liberating Structures (44!) including explanations, visual step-by-step guide, and worksheets in a handy workbook for € 11,-

Simple methods for big changes
Have interactions that truly matter
Build a culture of innovation step by step
Involve and activate everyone in the group

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Proven over decades

🧠 Why it works

Liberating Structures are not magic tricks—they work because they tap into how people naturally think, connect, and collaborate. Each structure is carefully designed to unlock participation, spark creativity, and build trust, using principles grounded in social science and human interaction.

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless.

Comparing Rationales

By explicitly articulating both the case for standardization and customization, hidden assumptions surface and productive tension becomes visible.

Both-and Discoveries

The worksheet structure (groups A, B, C) makes it concrete to identify actions that simultaneously serve integration and autonomy — revealing synergies that either-or thinking obscures.

Creative Modification

Asking "How can we move actions into group B?" sparks collaborative problem-solving that transforms trade-offs into innovative solutions.

Distributed Wisdom

Including both central and local leaders ensures that coordination needs and adaptation realities are equally represented — creating strategies that actually work in practice.

Riffs and Variations

Start with creative constraints to learn this structure and then... go liberate yourself and try some variations.

Making progress with Integrated~Autonomy can shift what is possible for the whole organization as people start to understand that what helps them succeed in addressing a particular challenge applies across the board. Whenever this happens, use Min Specs to go deeper into must dos and must not dos.
Substitute collaboration and competition for integration and autonomy
Do a second round of purpose testing: Ask “If you followed all the specifications except this one, would you still achieve your purpose?” If yes, you can drop that spec from the list.
Future-focused version: Instead of developing specifications for the present, ask people to speculate on what should shape action in the future. Use them to inform the present.
Virtual adaptation: Use the chat function to share answers to each “can you violate this specification and achieve your purpose?” question. When your list is getting shorter and tighter, open the voice conversation to all.

Tips

Lessons learned from other facilitators.

Frame your starting question with balance and curiosity — make both integration and autonomy equally valuable (e.g., “How is it that we are both integrated and autonomous?” rather than “How does standardization squash autonomy?”)
Draw on field experience and imagination when asking “How can we do more of both?” to surface creative possibilities
Aim for fidelity in a few core global attributes while encouraging differentiation in each local setting
Listen for laughter and groans (e.g., “arrgh!”) — these signals often indicate you’re making progress on real tensions
Encourage the group to try many experiments simultaneously rather than seeking one perfect solution
Return to the challenge periodically with additional rounds — there are often no quick fixes for these paradoxes
If the group gets stuck or starts to argue, have each side put on the hat of the other and argue the opposite point of view

Traps

Don't make the same mistakes.

Making one side of the tension “bad” or less valuable — this shuts down creative exploration
Rushing to solutions before the creative tension between central and local perspectives becomes visible
Letting dominant voices control the conversation — distributed wisdom requires all perspectives
Creating too many specifications in group A or C instead of pushing for both-and solutions in group B
Treating the worksheet mechanically without genuine dialogue about rationales and modifications
Expecting immediate resolution — productive paradoxes require patience and iteration
Forgetting to test and adapt your both-and solutions in practice — specifications should evolve with learning

Try it with…

The real power of Liberating Structures emerges when you combine them into "strings." Link different structures together to build on insights and create more powerful results. Here are some nice combinations:

1-2-4-All: Generate both-and actions, then distill to minimum necessary specifications
Purpose-to-Practice (P2P): Clarify shared purpose first, then translate into concrete both-and actions
Simple Ethnography: Observe real-world tensions first, then ground both-and solutions in lived experience
15% Solutions: Identify both-and actions, then find immediate steps within each person’s control
Ecocycle Planning: Map lifecycle stages first, then apply different integration-autonomy balances per phase
What I Need From You (WINFY): Generate both-and solutions, then collectively reflect and commit to next steps

Field stories

To get to know Liberating Structures without having used them yourself, it helps to see familiar situations from real-life practice. Chances are that you or your team have faced one of these challenges before. Discover how to approach these kinds of situations in a fresh and engaging way.

Learn by Failing Forward

Learn by Failing Forward with Liberating Structures – Ecocycle Planning. A Field Story about how a team coach used Ecocycle Planning to create overview, make work patterns visible, and integrate learning into daily collaboration.

Practice Self-discovery Within a Group

Practice Self-discovery Within a Group with Liberating Structures – What, So What, Now What? (W3). A Field Story about how a leader used What, So What, Now What? to stop explaining and create space for collective self-discovery and ownership.

Emphasize Possibilities: Believe Before You See

Emphasize Possibilities: Believe Before You See with Liberating Structures – Troika Consulting. A Field Story about how Troika Consulting as a peer-coaching structure increased confidence in the collective wisdom of a team and made possibilities visible.

Practice deep respect for people and local solutions

Practice deep respect for people and local solutions with Liberating Structures – Appreciative Interviews. A Field Story about how a team coach used Appreciative Interviews to surface local knowledge and turn respect into action—discovering that solutions were already present, just waiting for the right structure.