Creative Destruction (TRIZ)

Stop Counterproductive Activities and Behaviors to Make Space for Innovation

Five Structural Elements – Min Specs

1. Structuring Invitation

“What if we create more room for existing ideas to breathe and evolve (rather than chasing the next big thing)? Let’s make space for innovation by identifying the worst possible result of our work.”

2. Space and Materials

• Groups of four to seven chairs, with or without small tables [breakouts of four to seven].
• Paper for everyone and flip charts or whiteboards [chat or visual collaboration space] for each group

3. Participation Distribution

• Roles include host [tech host] and participants.
• No minimum group size.
• Everyone is invited and has an equal opportunity to contribute.

4. Groups Configuration

• Alone
• groups of four to seven
• whole group

5. Steps and Time Allocation

Intro: Share the structuring invitation. Invite the group to consider the worst possible result of their work and refine if needed. (5 min.)

List Ideas: Display first instruction. Participants work alone to list everything they can do to achieve the worst result. (3 min.)

Combine Lists: Participants form groups of four to seven [breakouts] (or use 1-2-4-All F2F) and combine their lists. (10 min.)

Reckoning: Display second instruction. Groups identify everything they are currently doing that in any way resembles the items on their list. (10 min.)

Destruction: Display third instruction. Groups decide what they need to stop doing to achieve desired results. They identify first steps to stop each counterproductive behavior (using 1-2-4-All F2F). (10 min.)

All-Together Sharing: Groups share their lists of what to stop, and the whole group reflects on what needs to stop and the first steps they need to take. Spotlight inspiring next steps that individual participants have committed to taking. (10–15 min.)After introduction, three segments, 10 minutes for each segment

Taking It Online

Creative Destruction can be done as a whole group (1-All) if tech constraints prevent using breakout groups. In this case, you can capture the lists in the chat.

Why? Purposes

• Make it possible to speak the unspeakable and get skeletons out of the closet
• Make space for innovation
• Lay the ground for creative destruction by doing the hard work in a fun way
• Creative Destruction (TRIZ) may be used before or in place of visioning sessions
• Build trust by acting all together to remove barriers

Tips and Traps

• Enter into Creative Destruction with a spirit of serious fun
• Be sure participants identify behaviors to stop doing, not new things to start doing, and warn them to be wary of snapback to counterproductive behaviors.
• If a group is resigned to counterproductive behaviors, take more time to define the “worst result” so it becomes unbearable
• Begin with a VERY unwanted result, quickly confirm your suggestion with the group
• In large groups, watch out for premature agreement and encourage people to critically review their lists if it occurs.
• Take time for groups to identify similarities to what they are doing now and explore how this is harmful
• Include the people that will be involved in stopping the activities that come out and ask, “Who else needs to be included?”
• Make real decisions about what will be stopped (number your decisions 1,2,3…) in the form of “I will stop” and “we will stop.”

Riffs and Variations

• Dig deeper with a second round.
• Have participants make real decisions about what to stop.

Examples

• For reducing harm to patients experiencing safety lapses (e.g., wrong-side surgery, patient falls, medication errors, iatrogenic infections) with cross-functional groups: “How can we make sure we always operate on the wrong side?”
• For helping institutional leaders notice how it is they inadvertently exclude diverse voices: “How can we devise policies and practices that only work for a select few?”
• For IT professionals: “How can we make sure we build an IT system that no one will want to use?”

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless. Inspired by the eponymous Russian engineering approach.

Source: Liberating Structures