Mad Tea/Calm Tea

Rearrange the context for taking action.

Structuring Invitation

“Get ready to explore our challenge at warp speed! We will be sharing our perspectives, uncovering hidden insights, and unleashing new ideas, all while having fun and inspiring our next steps.”

Space and Materials

• For Mad Tea, an open space large enough for participants to stand in two concentric circles people, face-to-face in pairs in two concentric circles
  
• The inner circle faces out and the outer circle faces in
• Each person is directly across from one other person
• Facilitator projects each question (see under attachments for examples) on a screen and dings once to shift the exchange between the pair and twice to shift to a new partner (rotating two people to the right)

Participation Distribution

• Roles include host [tech host] and participants.
• Minimum group size is twelve [six].
• Everyone is included and completes each sentence.

Group Configuration

• In pairs for each sentence, switching two places to the right as each new sentence appears
• Whole group

Steps and Time Allocation

Face-to-Face Mad Tea/ Calm Tea

Intro: Share the structuring invitation. (1 min.)

Setup: Participants stand face to face in pairs in two concentric circles, with the inner circle facing out and the outer circle facing in. (2 min.)

Instructions: Explain the process: An open sentence is shown. One person completes the sentence on the screen while the other listens, expressing keen interest and curiosity. After thirty seconds, they switch roles. Then everyone moves to their right for a new pair and new sentence. (2 min.)

Complete Sentences: Read and display the first open sentence. Every thirty seconds, ring a bell to signal time to switch partners or rotate to new pairs. Repeat for up to twelve open sentences. (up to 12 min.)

All-Together Sharing: Everyone returns to plenary. A few people share observations about differences and similarities in the responses and what seems possible now. (2–5 min.) Ask, what did you notice about the Mad Tea experience?

Tip: Invite participants to silently complete the strategy worksheet (below)

Mad Tea Open Sentences

What first inspired me in this work is…

Something we must learn to live with is…

An uncertainty we must creatively adapt to is…

What I find challenging in our current situation is…

Before we make our next move, we cannot neglect to...

Something we should stop doing (or divest) is…

What I hope can happen for us in this work is…

A big opportunity I see for us is…

If we do nothing, the worst thing that can happen for us is…

A courageous conversation we are not having is…

An action or practice helping us move forward is…

A project that gives me confidence we are transforming is…

Something we need to research is…

A bold idea I recommend is…

A question that is emerging for me is…

When all is said and done, I want to...

Something I plan to do is...

Online Mad Tea/ Calm Tea

Intro: Share the structuring invitation. (1 min.)

Setup and Instructions: Everyone mutes themselves. Explain the process. An open sentence is shown. Participants complete the sentence in the chat. They do not hit Enter until the signal. Spelling and grammar mistakes are okay. (2 min.)

Complete Sentences: Read the first open sentence and paste it in the chat. Everyone types a response. After thirty to forty seconds, say, “Go, hit Enter.” Give the group one minute to read the responses. Repeat these steps for up to six open sentences. (up to 12 min.)

Reread: Everyone scrolls up and reads the responses again, reflecting on differences and similarities in the responses and what seems possible now. (2–3 min.)

All-Together Sharing: A few participants reflect on what they noticed out loud or in the chat. (2-5 min.)

WHY? Purposes

• Mad Tea brings more life and passion to strategy-making
• Reflections, insights, and imagination are enhanced
• Short intervals and pressure to respond quickly reveal essential qualities—without cerebral left-brain "interference."
• Responses are stripped of artifice and broken down into simple statements anyone can grasp
• The movement and speed produce magical off-balance moments—one of the gateways to the intuitive
• When the participants' mind is emptied of attitude and politically correct responses, you can see everything outside of yourself more clearly

Tips and Traps

• Invite the listener to give all their attention to the answers given
• Keep the time very short for each exchange—20 seconds to 50 seconds for each person in the pair
• Give certain questions more or less time
• Mad Tea can get very loud: be sure you have loud bells or another device that everyone can notice easily
• In Calm Tea, it may take a round or two for participants to stop hitting Enter automatically.
• Use a balanced mix of open sentences, such as prompts that are appreciative (e.g., “What’s working is . . .”), problem focused (e.g., “The biggest challenge is . . .”), hopeful (e.g., “I hope it’s possible to . . .”), and action oriented (e.g., “The next step we could take is . . .”).

Riffs and Variations

• Insert different open sentences depending on the topic at hand (you can make it lighter)
• For example, here is a string developed by Fisher Qua for a team working to improve their performance: I hope to get...from today's session. I know a team is dysfunctional when.... I contribute to this dysfunction by.... Working on ineffective teams makes me.... ...often prevents teams from working well together. A team I worked on that overcame these challenges was.... A practice or behavior we implemented was....

• Bring hats to make Mad Tea a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party
• Use "chat to all" within virtual conferencing technology (it can be lively and fun with hundreds of participants)
• Online, make contributions anonymous by inviting people to rename themselves with a collective pseudonym (e.g., Bootsy) for this LS.

Examples

• Part of the opening of any meeting with 20 or more people present
• Use before a more formal conversation about strategy
• Use at the end of any meeting

Strategy Questions

1. What is the deepest need for my / our work?

2. What is happening around me / us that demands creative adaptation?

3. What paradoxical challenges must I / we face down to make progress?

4. Where am I / are we starting, honestly?

5. Given my / our purpose, what seems possible now?

6. How am I / are we acting our way forward toward the future?

https://www.liberatingstructures.com/mad-tea/

To provide feedback on this tool and help with its development, go to: https://www.liberatingstructures.com/ls-discussion/

This is part of the Liberating Structures body of work, currently "in development" (as of 2026). Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless. Strategy Questions inspired by Chris McGoff (The Primes)