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15% Solutions

15% Solutions empowers individuals and teams to take immediate, meaningful action - no matter how small. By focusing on what is within their discretion, participants shift from feeling stuck or powerless to identifying practical steps they can take right now.
 
This structure sparks momentum, builds confidence, and often reveals hidden opportunities for change. Even modest actions (your “15%”) can trigger larger transformations when shared and amplified across a group.

  • Time needed

    20 minutes

  • Preparation

    Offline Format Online Format
    Prepare pieces of paper Prepare virtual whiteboard to gather ideas (for example Miro Board)
    Prepare split into smaller groups (2-4 people)  Prepare split into smaller groups (2-4 people) 

     

  • Set the stage

    1. Frame the Challenge: Present a clear, well-defined challenge, opportunity, or desired future state to the group. This could be something the whole group is grappling with, or individuals might work on their own specific challenges. Examples:

      • "How can we improve our team's communication?"

      • "What can I do to enhance my personal well-being at work?"

      • "How can we make this project more successful?"

    2. Start by reflecting on these questions:
      • What is your 15% Solution?
      • What is something you can do right now, with your own resources and discretion, that will move us forward on this challenge?
    3. ​​​​​Emphasize: 
      1. No permission needed: You don't need anyone's approval.
      2. No resources needed: You don't need extra budget or tools.
      3. Within your control: It's something you can start.
      4. Small step: It's not the whole solution, just a small, initial action.

  • Step-by-step and timing

    1. Individual Reflection (5 minutes)
      Ask each participant to silently reflect on their own list of 15% solutions - actions they can take within their current scope of freedom and resources.

      • As Facilitator: Maintain silence. Reiterate the definition of a 15% Solution if needed to ensure clarity. Use a timer.

    2. Small Group Sharing (2–4 people)
      Split participants into smaller groups.

    3. Idea Sharing (3 minutes per person)
      Each person shares their 15% solutions with the group, based on their individual reflections.

      • As a facilitator: Announce the transition. Remind pairs to focus on refinement and encouragement.

    4. Peer Consultation (5–7 minutes per person)
      Group members offer feedback through questions and suggestions to help refine each other's ideas.

      • As a facilitator: Capture shared solutions on a flip chart or whiteboard (optional, but helpful for seeing patterns). Guide the debrief questions to help the group identify broader themes and encourage cross-pollination of ideas.

    5. Action Planning
      Each participant should leave with a list of potential actions they can implement without needing additional resources or authority.

      • As a facilitator:

        • Commitment to Action: Encourage everyone to commit to implementing at least one of their 15% Solutions within a specific timeframe (e.g., "by the end of the week").

        • Reflection: Ask for reflections on the exercise:

          • "What did you learn from this exercise?"

          • "How does it feel to identify something you can actually do right now?"

        • Integration: Discuss how these small actions contribute to the larger challenge or goal. Emphasize that collective small actions can lead to significant change.

        • Follow-up (Optional): Consider a quick check-in at a later date to see how people's 15% Solutions are progressing and what impact they are having.

  • Hints

    1. Even the smallest ideas are worth trying - believe in the butterfly effect.
    2. Ensure the ideas are actionable without needing additional resources or authority.
    3. Sometimes, reinventing the wheel is okay - especially if it builds ownership or fits your context better.
    4. Introduce 15% Solutions into your regular meetings, especially when the team feels stuck or needs a boost.
    5. Consider starting with a relatable story - a small action that led to a big impact - to inspire participants.
    6. If this isn’t the first session, you can ask:
      “What have you done with your 15% lately?”
    7. Keep it positive: Focus on what can be done, not what can't.

  • Examples of use

    1. Improving a Team's Workflow

    • Scenario: A team is frustrated with slow project progress, but they feel powerless to change the larger organizational bureaucracy. The 15% Solution Question: The facilitator then reframes the question: "What is one thing you can do on your own, right now, without any extra resources or permission, to improve our workflow?"
    • Outcome:
      • "I will start every stand-up by sharing my top priority, not just what I worked on yesterday, to help the team focus."
      • "I will create a shared Slack channel just for quick, informal questions, so we don't clog up our formal communication channels."
      • "I will proactively schedule a 15-minute chat with the design team before I start a new task to make sure we're aligned.""I will start documenting the bugs I find in a consistent way in our project management tool, even if nobody else is yet."
      • Summary: The team moves from feeling powerless to empowered. Instead of waiting for a management-led initiative, they have a list of small, actionable steps they can take immediately, which collectively can lead to a significant change in their team's culture and efficiency.

    2. Enhancing a Product or Service

    • Scenario: A product development team feels overwhelmed by a long list of features and bug fixes and is struggling to decide where to start. The 15% Solution Question: "What is one small change you, as a developer/designer, can make in the next week, without having to go through a large-scale planning process, that would improve our product for a user?"

    • Outcome:

      • "I will add a tooltip to a confusing button I designed to explain its function better."

      • "I'll spend 30 minutes writing more helpful error messages for one of our less-used features."

      • "I'll make a point of following three users on social media this week to listen to their feedback and get a better sense of how they use our product."

      • "I will fix a small UI bug on a page I'm already working on, even if it's not on the main backlog."

      • Summary: The team bypasses "analysis paralysis" and starts making tangible, positive changes immediately. These small changes often build momentum and can inform larger strategic decisions down the line.

    3. Fostering Personal Growth and Leadership

    • Scenario: An employee feels stuck in their career and wants to take on more responsibility but doesn't know where to start. The 15% Solution Question: "What is one small, self-directed action I can take in the next week to move me in that direction?"

      • Outcome:

        • "I will volunteer to take notes during our team meeting to better understand all the different moving parts of the project."

        • "I will ask a senior colleague to grab coffee and ask them one specific question about a skill I want to develop."

        • "I will spend 15 minutes each morning organizing my own tasks to be a more reliable and organized team member."

        • "I will write a short summary of a company-wide email and share it with my immediate team to make sure we're all on the same page."

        • Summary: The individual takes ownership of their growth. Instead of waiting for a formal promotion or training program, they start building new habits and skills immediately, which naturally leads to more responsibility and influence.

  • Link with other Liberating Structures

    For better results, this structure might be combined with:

    1. Helping heuristics
    2. Integrated autonomy
    3. Open space technology
    4. Troika consulting
    5. Wise crowds

  • Link to Liberating Structures page

    15% Solutions

  • Link to virtual whiteboard template (Miro)

    15% Solutions template

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