Whoever had the most power before the meeting was also right afterwards.
Recognize this situation? Below are the Liberating Structures that change it — a concrete example, and the reason this one fits here. New to Liberating Structures? Here's what it is.
Wise Crowds also gives the people with less power a real say in the advice.
For example: Two proposals are on the table. The director's proposal gets approved, not because it's better argued, but because nobody likes contradicting a director. The other proposal, from a junior colleague, actually holds up stronger under analysis, but disappears without discussion.
Liberating Structures for this situation:
Agreement and Certainty
Agreement and Certainty judges an idea independent of who brought it: in small groups of four to six, each challenge gets placed on the matrix separately, guided by two questions — how much do we agree on what the problem is, and how certain are we about the outcome?
Both questions are about the content of the proposal, not the title of whoever presented it. An idea that's factually uncertain stays that way, even if a director brought it.
Wise Crowds
Wise Crowds then also gives whoever has less power a structural voice: a small group of consultants, different each round, gives advice, and the "client" — whoever brings the challenge — just listens, without being able to immediately push back.
Because everyone in the group takes a turn as client, there's no fixed weight attached to who holds the most power — the advice is about the challenge, not the rank of whoever raised it.
No certification, no lengthy prep — read the steps and try it at your next meeting.
Keep exploring
Browse the full list of 43 structures, or get support if this situation is too complex to facilitate yourself.