Discovery and Action Dialogue

How this method works

A conversation for finding local behaviours that work and turning them into the next experiment. Use it when you want to explore questions with the people where a problem occurs before bringing in an outside answer. Small groups work through seven topics in order: signs of the problem, their own behaviours, barriers, people who overcome the barriers successfully, new ideas, a first step, and people to invite next. The facilitator does not supply answers, and the recorder captures actions. The result is a practice the group has found, one step to try, and the people needed for the next conversation. Do not use it to assume that an individual is the cause, to gather evidence for punishment, or to push responsibility onto people without authority.

Phase schedule

Minutes are cumulative from the start of the base plan, not a live timer. Read scaling for any additional time. Phase controls do not advance automatically.

1. State the problem0–4 minutes from the start (4 minutes)

   Action: State. Participation: Everyone.

   Recording not separately specified for this phase

2. Assign roles4–8 minutes from the start (4 minutes)

   Action: Assign. Participation: Groups of 2–7.

   Recording not separately specified for this phase

3. Ask the seven questions8–44 minutes from the start (36 minutes)

   Action: Ask. Participation: Groups of 2–7.

   Shared record

4. Find a practice44–54 minutes from the start (10 minutes)

   Action: Find. Participation: Groups of 2–7.

   Shared record

5. Invite the next participants54–60 minutes from the start (6 minutes)

   Action: Invite. Participation: Everyone.

   Shared record

Facilitation steps

1. For 4 minutes, state the shared problem in plain language that the people involved can understand, explaining that the aim is to find practices, not someone to hold responsible.
2. For 4 minutes, assign a facilitator and recorder in each group of 2–7, then display the 7 questions where everyone can read them.
3. For 36 minutes, the facilitator asks the 7 questions one at a time, participants share their experiences, and the recorder notes actual behaviours and obstacles.
4. For 10 minutes, each table selects one behaviour that surprised them. The people involved decide for themselves who will try it on a small scale and when.
5. For 6 minutes, share practices and next steps with everyone, then identify people to invite to the next conversation by role rather than name.

If something changes

Preparation

Materials

• One A3 list of the 7 questions per table
• One A3 recording sheet per table
• 2 thick pens per table
• One facilitator role card and one recorder role card per table

Room and setup

• One table per group, seating 2–7 people, near the place where the problem occurs
• Place the question list and recording sheet where everyone at each table can read them
• Explain at the start that the group will not decide other people's actions while those people are absent

Adjust for people and time

With 5 people, one person may combine the facilitator and recorder roles at a single table. With 5–40 people, divide participants among tables of no more than 7, with table sizes differing by no more than 1 person. At tables of 2–4, the facilitator also records. Above 20 people, share the 7 questions with each table's facilitator in advance and limit whole-group sharing to one action per table. Postpone the session if the people closest to the problem cannot take part.

Manuscript's recorded references

These translate the original manuscript's source and rights claims. They remain separate from any current-page notice below; they do not establish new verification.

• Liberating Structures Fieldbook (2026) — Henri Lipmanowicz; Keith McCandless; Nancy White

  https://www.liberatingstructures.com/discovery-and-action-dialogue

  Adaptation under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes made

• Creative Commons License — Liberating Structures

  https://www.liberatingstructures.com/cc-license

  CC-BY-SA-4.0 notice

• CC BY-SA 4.0

  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

  Licence text

Diagram, print, and video language

Original Japanese guide, diagram, and print view. Their labels and print text have not been translated; an English print edition is not provided here.

English video-library navigation. Original Japanese audio, subtitles and transcripts remain labelled Japanese resources. Their translations are separate later work. No remote player is embedded here.

The manual English phase controls are a navigation aid, not a live facilitation timer. Interactive diagram motion remains pending.

Editorial provenance

Stable method ID

discovery-and-action-dialogue

Japanese source status

Japanese source: field-tested status

Source path

src/content/methods/discovery-and-action-dialogue.yaml

Source SHA-256

7408d287cbccc212e208a605247f2f4d8ca0ec33cd2e7d2b0f83c0f5c394c2e6

English text path

design-lab/drafts/english-site-20261015/batches/M-002-local-draft-20261017-r2/methods/discovery-and-action-dialogue.json

English text SHA-256

af8ec3c2ead69fdd44d7b09debb5c48ee131b8f034d591396b18c7522fcef249

Historical fixed-text English acceptance record

local-draft-not-independently-reviewed

Historical fixed-source recorded publication hold

LS source-version/licence/icon reconciliation before publication

Original Japanese asset identifiers (not rendered here)

• main: discovery-and-action-dialogue-main.svg
• print: discovery-and-action-dialogue-print.svg
• thumb: discovery-and-action-dialogue-thumb.svg

Japanese source status and logs are provenance only. They do not mean this English text or interface was field-tested. Historical fixed-text acceptance and hold records remain specific to their recorded versions; displaying them neither asserts current acceptance nor resolves source-specific restrictions.