3 What Debrief: What, So What, Now What?

3 What Debrief is a foundational Liberating Structures that helps by asking us to step back and consider what is going on. You can help groups reflect on a shared experience in a way that builds understanding and spurs coordinated action while avoiding unproductive conflict.

It is possible for every voice to be heard while simultaneously sifting for insights and shaping new direction.

Progressing in stages makes this practical—from collecting facts about What Happened to making sense of these facts with So What and finally to what actions logically follow with Now What. By doing this with others, we are encouraged to discover the gaps in our understanding by learning from their perspectives.

This activity structures our thinking by breaking our experience down into three steps: “What do we notice?”, “So, what does this mean?” and “Now, where do go from here?”. The shared progression eliminates most of the misunderstandings that otherwise fuel disagreements about what to do.

Four Structural Elements

1. Structuring Invitation

• After a shared experience, ask, “WHAT? What happened? What did you notice, what facts or observations stood out?”
• Then, after all the salient observations have been collected, ask, “SO WHAT? Why is that important? What patterns or conclusions are emerging? What hypotheses can you make?”
• Then, after the sense making is over, ask, “NOW WHAT? What actions make sense?”

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

• Unlimited number of groups
• Chairs for people to sit in small groups of 5-7; small tables are optional
• Paper to make lists
• Flip chart may be needed with a large group to collect answers

3. How Participation Is Distributed

• Everyone is included
• Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute at each table
• Small groups are more likely to give voice to everyone if one person facilitates and keeps everybody working on one question at a time

4. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

• If needed, describe the sequence of steps and show the Ladder of Inference (see below). If the group is 10–12 people or smaller, conduct the debrief with the whole group. Otherwise, break the group into small groups.
• First stage: WHAT? Individuals work 1 min. alone on “What happened? What did you notice, what facts or observations stood out?” then 2–7 min. in small group. 3–8 min. total.
• Salient facts from small groups are shared with the whole group and collected. 2–3 min.
• If needed, remind participants about what is included in the SO WHAT? question.
• Second stage: SO WHAT? People work 1 min alone on “Why is that important? What patterns or conclusions are emerging? What hypotheses can I/we make?” then 2–7 min. in small group. 3–8 min. total.
• Salient patterns, hypotheses, and conclusions from small groups are shared with the whole group and collected. 2–5 min.
• Third stage: NOW WHAT? Participants work 1 min. alone on “Now what? What actions make sense?” then 2–7 min. in small group. 3–8 min. total.
• Actions are shared with the whole group, discussed, and collected. Additional insights are invited. 2–10 min.

Purposes and Objectives

• Build shared understanding of how people develop different perspectives, ideas, and rationales for actions and decisions
• Make sure that learning is generated from shared experiences: no feedback = no learning
• Avoid repeating the same mistakes or dysfunctions over and over
• Avoid arguments about actions based on lack of clarity about facts or their interpretation
• Eliminate the tendency to jump prematurely to action, leaving people behind
• Build trust and reduce fear by learning together at each step of a shared experience
• Make sense of complex challenges in a way that unleashes action
• Experience how questions are more powerful than answers because they invite active exploration

Tips

• Often feels counter-intuitive at first. The more often you do it, the more natural it becomes
• Bring a printout of the ladder of Inferences to help participants structure their thinking.
• Check with small groups to clarify appropriate answers to each question (some groups get confused about what fits in each category) and share examples of answers with the whole group if needed
• Note that the expression of emotions can be observed as a “What” (e.g., “many people were smiling and laughing” rather than suggesting people were “happy”)
• When sharing with the whole group, collect one important answer at a time. Don’t try to collect answers from each group or invite a long repetitive list from a single group. Seek out unique anwsers that are full of meaning.
• Appreciate candid feedback and recognize it
• Build in time for the debrief—don’t trivialize it, don’t rush it

Examples

• For debriefing any meeting topic that generates complex or controversial responses
• For groups with people who have strong opinions or individuals who dominate the conversation
• For groups with people who have difficulty listening to others with different backgrounds
• For use in place of a leader “telling” people what to think, what conclusions to draw, or what actions to take (often unintentionally)
• As a standard discipline at the end of all meetings or right after a shocking event