Is your team feeling stuck or caught in a swirl, overanalyzing information, overwhelmed by choices or uncertainty, or circling endlessly on how to best move forward?
Taking time to consider information, inviting diverse perspectives, and avoiding rushing decisions is important. But if that thoughtful process turns into churning — where you feel powerless, inactive, or even fearful — it may be time to shift focus.
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Preparing for This Activity
- Anticipated Duration: 20–30 minutes
- Preparation Level: Low
- Suitable for: In person and remote meetings
- Materials:
- Flipchart
- Markers
- Paper and pens
- Sticky notes
- Shared document
- Slides if remote
Roadmap
Frame the purpose for the exercise by:
- Acknowledging the context of where the team is feeling stuck, uncertain, in a swirl.
- Explain that the team is going to work together to identify small, immediate actions we can take in response to the current situation that don’t require permission or perfect conditions.
- Further, explain that this process can empower our team to create some momentum and make progress in ways that are within our influence and control.
Instructions
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1. Set the Context
- A 15% Solution is a small action you can take right now, with the current resources and authority you already have, that moves us forward.
- Emphasize: It’s not about focusing on what we can’t do or solving everything. It is just about finding what might be possible now.
2. Individual Reflection
- Each person generates his or her own list of 15% Solutions.
- Offer up to 10 minutes to reflect on and write down answers to the following prompts (these could be sent in advance of the gathering):
- Where do you/we have discretion and freedom to act?
- What are one or two things we can do immediately to help the team move forward?
- How could this action create momentum?
3. Pair or Small Group Sharing
- Form small groups of 2–4 people.
- Individuals share their reflections with a small group.
- Three minutes per person in a group, i.e., three-person group = 9 min
- Encourage groups to ask clarifying questions and offer encouragement (no judgment or critique).
- Invite small groups to build upon each other’s ideas and identify at least two 15% Solutions they would like to bring forward to the full team.
4. Large Group Debrief
- Invite volunteers to share the solutions they co-created as a small group.
- Capture ideas on a flipchart or whiteboard, or in a shared document.
- Invite clarifying questions and curiosities as ideas are being shared.
- Highlight themes and celebrate the possibilities that were identified.
5. Move to Action
- Discuss whether there are any solutions offered that feel good to move on now, or what is needed to make them possible.
- Ask the team: “How can we ensure everyone plays a role in moving our agreed-upon solutions forward?”
- What does accountability look like for us as a team?
- What does accountability look like for each individual?
Closing Thoughts
Keep in mind the following facilitation tips throughout the exercise.
- Keep the tone positive, practical, and focused on possibilities.
- Continually remind the team that small steps matter. Small steps will build momentum and confidence through even slight shifts of influence and impact.
- Collect and capture identified 15% Solutions in a shared document that can be revisited as needed.
- Practice with 15% Solutions in meetings. When the team feels stuck or faces a challenge that needs broad change or individual initiative, pause for five minutes and invite everyone to share a small action they can take right now. Even a short pause can spark impactful ideas and shift in thinking.
Attribution
Liberating Structures developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless. Inspired by Gareth Morgan.