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Integrated autonomy

Integrated Autonomy makes it possible to shift from rigid, either-or thinking to more nuanced, both-and strategies that balance central coordination with local initiative. 
What Is Made Possible
  • Strategic Clarity Through Paradox
    It helps groups explore and embrace the tension between integration (alignment, consistency, control) and autonomy (freedom, creativity, adaptability). Rather than choosing one over the other, participants discover how both can coexist and reinforce each other.
  • Sharper Thinking and Mutual Understanding
    By surfacing the benefits and trade-offs of each side, teams engage in deeper conversations that lead to shared understanding and collaborative action.
  • Avoiding Strategic Whiplash
    Many organizations swing between extremes—centralized control vs. decentralized freedom. Integrated Autonomy helps avoid these swings by identifying the right mix of both, tailored to purpose and context.
  • Unlocking Performance Leaps
    Attending to paradox reveals hidden opportunities for innovation and performance improvement. Questions like:
    • “Where do we need global consistency?”
    • “Where can we allow local customization?” become springboards for transformative solutions.

  • Time needed

    80 minutes

  • Preparation

    1. Miro Board (online) or paper (F2F)
    2. Split into smaller groups (4 people) - prepare the rooms online in Teams

  • How to start

    1. Invite your group to explore the questions, “Will our purpose be best served by increased local autonomy, customization, competition, and freedom among units/sites? Or, will our purpose be best served by increased integration, standardization, and control among units/sites? Or, both?”

  • Step-by-step and timing

    1. Ask: “How is it that we can be more integrated and more autonomous at the same time?” Have examples from past experience (5 min)
    2. Use 1-2-4-All to generate a list of activities that require attention by asking, “Where is tension between our desire to standardize and the request for more customizing or autonomy?” (10 min).
    3. Ask participants to work in groups of four, and pick one activity from the list and ask, “What is the rationale for standardizing? What is the rationale for customizing?” (10 min)
    4. Using 1-2-4 develop action steps that achieve standardization and do the same for customization. (10 min)
    5. Ask, “Which actions boost both standardization (group A) and customization (group C)?” See worksheet in preparation part. (5 min)
    6. Ask, “What modifications or creative ideas can be adopted to move some actions from group A to group B or from group C to group B?” (15 min)
    7. Prioritize the most promising actions that promote both integration and autonomy (10 min)

  • Hints

    1. Draw on field experience and imagination in asking questions such as, “How can we do more of both?”

  • Examples of use

    1. Develop innovative strategies to move forward

  • Link with other Liberating Structures

    Link with:

    1-2-4-All

    Min specs

  • Link to Liberating Structures page

    Integrated autonomy

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