Wise Crowds

Purpose

Wise Crowds taps the collective wisdom of a group to help individuals with real challenges. A client presents their dilemma; the crowd — acting as consultants — offers perspectives, questions, and suggestions. The format ensures every client gets actionable input while every participant practises deep listening and generous advising. Use it when multiple people need help simultaneously and peer coaching is more valuable than expert advice.

At a glance

• Group size: 8–40 people
• Duration: 30 minutes
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Facilitation style: Structured
• Setting: Indoor / Remote-friendly

How to run

1. Setup (2 min): Form groups of 5–7. Assign one person as the first client.
2. Client presents (3 min): The client describes their challenge concisely.
3. Crowd consults (8 min): The client turns away. The crowd discusses the challenge openly, offering ideas, questions, and reframings as if the client is absent.
4. Client responds (2 min): The client turns back, shares what resonated and what they will do next.
5. Rotate (repeat): Next person becomes the client. Continue until all have had a turn or time runs out.

Materials needed

• Chairs in small circles
• Timer
• Optional: notebooks for capturing insights

Pitfalls & common mistakes

• Crowd members giving prescriptive advice rather than opening new perspectives — encourage "I wonder if..." framing.
• Client defending their current approach instead of listening — remind them the turn-away phase is for receiving, not debating.
• Not managing time strictly — everyone deserves a turn.

Inclusion & accessibility

• The turned-away format reduces social pressure on the client.
• Small groups ensure quieter participants can contribute.
• Remote adaptation: client turns off camera during the consulting phase.
• Provide written summaries for participants who process information better in text.

Variations

• Speed Wise Crowds: Shorten to 2-min present / 5-min consult for larger groups.
• Wise Crowds + Graphic Recording: A scribe captures the crowd's ideas visually for the client.
• Cross-org Wise Crowds: Mix participants from different organisations for diverse input.

When NOT to use this

Avoid Wise Crowds when the challenges are confidential or too sensitive for peer discussion, or when the group is too homogeneous to provide diverse perspectives.

Source & further reading

Developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless as part of Liberating Structures. See liberatingstructures.com.