Method guide · Work with a structured grid
Purpose to Practice
Connect purpose, principles, participants, structure, and practices, then check and revise inconsistencies across the design.
- People
- 4–20
- Base procedure time
- 120 minutes
- Recording
- Shared record
Purpose: Make a decision; Build working relationships.
English guide
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How this method works
A method for connecting purpose, principles, participants, structure, and practices to correct misalignment in a plan. Use it early in an initiative when there is a guiding idea but uncertainty about who should be involved, assigned roles do not translate into daily action, or activity proposals multiply before the rest is clear. Participants fill in the five elements in order and place a checking strip between adjacent elements to ask, ‘Does this support the preceding element?’ When they find an inconsistency, they can revise not just later elements but return as far as the purpose, making the connections across the design visible. The result is a five-element design, unresolved inconsistencies, practices with named owners, and a review date. Do not use it to ratify a plan whose participation rights or purpose have already been fixed and cannot be changed by those involved.
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.
Use the arrow keys, Home or End while these controls have focus. The complete phase schedule remains below, including without JavaScript.
- Define the purpose0–25 minutes from the start (25 minutes)
Action: Define. Participation: Groups of 3–5.
Shared record
- Test the principles25–45 minutes from the start (20 minutes)
Action: Test. Participation: Groups of 3–5.
Shared record
- Open participation45–65 minutes from the start (20 minutes)
Action: Open. Participation: Groups of 3–5.
Shared record
- Build the structure65–85 minutes from the start (20 minutes)
Action: Build. Participation: Groups of 3–5.
Shared record
- Connect the practices85–120 minutes from the start (35 minutes)
Action: Connect. Participation: Groups of 3–5, then everyone.
Shared record
Facilitation steps
- For 25 minutes, in groups of 3–5, choose one desired change, one beneficiary, and one piece of evidence of change, and write them as one sentence in the purpose field.
- For 20 minutes, create up to 3 decision rules to follow when moving towards the purpose, and write them in the principles field as actions whose violation can be observed.
- For 20 minutes, distinguish people affected, people who will carry out the work, and people needed for decisions, and place them by role in the participants field.
- For 20 minutes, use no more than 3 arrows in the structure field to show who decides what and to whom information is passed.
- For 15 minutes, choose up to 3 recurring actions that will produce evidence of the purpose, and record their frequency and who will carry them out in the practices field.
- For 8 minutes, have a neighbouring group read the five connections in order and place inconsistency strips where an element does not support the preceding one.
- For 7 minutes, the original group chooses one inconsistency strip, records the before and after on a revision card, and updates the connection sheet.
- For 5 minutes, each group records the owner, starting conditions, and design review date for one first practice on a practice slip.
If something changes
If
Fifteen minutes into purpose discussion, the purpose statement contains no beneficiary or no evidence of change.
Then
Divide the element cards into beneficiaries and changes, choose one card from each pile, and rewrite the purpose statement.
If
Five minutes into checking connections, one group has 4 or more inconsistency strips.
Then
Read backwards from practices to purpose and retain only the first broken connection as the one to revise.
Preparation
Materials
- One five-element connection sheet per group, with purpose, principles, participants, structure, and practices
- Ten element cards per person, with an evidence field
- Five inconsistency strips per group, with space to identify the broken connection between adjacent elements
- Three revision cards per group, with before-and-after fields
- Two practice slips per group, with owner, start, and review fields
- One dark-coloured writing implement per person
Room and setup
- Form groups of 3–5 whose sizes differ by no more than 1 person
- Give each group one five-element connection sheet and five inconsistency strips
- One whole-group connection surface for displaying all groups' practice slips
Adjust for people and time
With fewer than 4 people, the reciprocal check of the five elements becomes one-sided, so do not use the method. With 4–20, form groups of 3–5 whose sizes differ by no more than 1 person. With 21–50, divide the work into multiple sessions of no more than 20 people, also using groups of 3–5 differing by no more than 1 person within each session. Leave two practice slips and one unresolved inconsistency strip per group on the whole-group connection surface.
Safety and non-applicable situations
Do not use this process to ratify a plan when the people involved cannot change its purpose or participation rights. Keep unresolved inconsistencies visible rather than treating the design as settled, and allow revisions to return to the purpose.
Historical translation and source notes
These original notes are retained verbatim with their fixed source versions. This historical label does not resolve a source-specific concern or establish current acceptance.
- The source describes checks between adjacent elements in a five-element sheet, which gives four adjacent pairs, but the steps specify five connections and materials specify five strips. This draft preserves those numbers without inventing a fifth relationship.
- The source permits 4–5 participants in one group but requests inspection by a neighbouring group, without giving a single-group inspection alternative. No alternative is added.
- Scaling leaves two practice slips and one unresolved strip per group, while the final step specifies recording one first practice. The source does not require a second practice or explain how to handle no unresolved strip; the draft preserves both instructions.
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): Purpose to Practice — Henri Lipmanowicz / Keith McCandless / Nancy White
https://www.liberatingstructures.com/purpose-to-practice
Adaptation under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes made
- CC BY-SA 4.0
Current-page licence notice
This explanation is an adaptation for Taiwa no Fumen based on the official Liberating Structures page linked below. The manuscript's recorded references are listed separately from the web page checked on 17 October 2026.
Changes: the Japanese explanation and facilitation plan have been edited for Taiwa no Fumen. The English edition translates that Japanese manuscript; it is not a verbatim translation of the official page.
The LS-adapted text on this page, including this site's editorial and translation contributions, is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. When reusing it, credit the creators, identify the source and licence, indicate changes, and follow the licence's ShareAlike terms when sharing adaptations.
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Credits on the checked source page
- Developed by: Henri Lipmanowicz, Keith McCandless
Related work credited on that page: Dee Hock; Chaordic Commons.
Source page checked on 2026-10-17: Purpose-to-Practice (P2P).
Source lineage
- Original repertoire (2013): Henri Lipmanowicz, Keith McCandless
- 2026 Fieldbook: Keith McCandless, Nancy White
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International · Legal code · Official source policy
This material-specific notice does not itself establish publication clearance. Preserved manuscript references above remain separate from the current page's credits and licence evidence.
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.
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Editorial provenance
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