People often have relevant experience that never reaches the colleague who needs it. Troika Consulting creates a small, temporary advice circle: one person brings a challenge, while two others help them examine it. Roles rotate so everyone receives and offers help.

In the Liberating Structures format, the person seeking help spends part of the exchange listening while the other two discuss the challenge. This interrupts the familiar pattern of immediately defending every objection.

Advice without an obligation to obey

Suppose three volunteers are preparing different community events. One is struggling to recruit helpers. After clarifying questions, the other two might explore whether the invitation asks for too much commitment or leaves the actual task unclear. Listening without responding can let the volunteer hear a possibility they would otherwise dismiss too quickly.

The consultants do not acquire authority over the decision. They see only part of the situation, and their suggestions are material for the person to consider. The advice process makes a similar distinction between receiving input and holding decision authority. Keeping the challenge specific makes their limited time more useful.

Advice can easily become a display of cleverness. Asking what kind of help is wanted, staying with the person’s actual problem, and leaving room for them to identify what was useful keeps the exchange grounded. The rotation matters socially: being helped is an ordinary part of participation, rather than a sign that one member is uniquely deficient.

Real cases