Helping Heuristics
Practice four ways of giving and receiving help in trios, and notice how each one opens up or shuts down the conversation. Adapted from Liberating Structures (https://www.liberatingstructures.com/helping-heuristics), licensed CC BY-NC 3.0.
2 parts · 7 phases
Pick a role and keep it for every round: client (shares a challenge), coach (responds), observer (watches for accepting and blocking). You'll stay in the same trio throughout.
- Round 1 — Quiet Presence
The client shares. The coach listens with compassion and asks only "What else?" The observer watches for where offers are accepted or blocked.
- Round 2 — Guided Discovery
The coach asks: "Do you have a story about a time you made progress, or were stopped? What influenced it?" The observer keeps watching for accepting and blocking.
- Round 3 — Loving Provocation
The coach offers advice, asking "Would it be possible to try...?" The client practices both accepting and blocking. The observer watches.
- Round 4 — Generative Shaping
Coach and client accept every offer, building with "Yes, and..." and "If... then...". The observer watches.
- Debrief
Discuss the impact of the four patterns. The client and coach each reflect for a minute; the observer shares the accepting and blocking they noticed in each round.
- Share a takeaway
A few people share a takeaway everyone should hear.