Use cases
Does one of these sound like your team?
Five situations founders often find themselves in, and what the Score would show in each: where decisions get stuck, what your team would tell you, and what to try first.
Illustrative scenarios, not client stories
The teams, numbers and comments on this page are made up to show how the Score works. They don’t describe any real organisation or person.
Example: a 14-person agency
Every proposal still crosses your desk
See whether your team is ready to make client calls without you, and what’s in the way.
The situation
There are fourteen of us now, and I trust my team with our clients. Yet every proposal, every price and most client emails still come past me before they go out. My senior people are brilliant; they just wait for my yes. I’ve become the reason we’re slow, and I’m the one working at weekends.
As a founder in this spot might put it. Illustrative, not a real person.
What the Score would show
You think you’ve let go; your team experiences something different. And they’re readier to own the work than you expected. That hidden strength is where to start.
What you might try
Decision-making & authority
Hand over one decision
If we hand one recurring decision that currently comes to the founder to the people doing the work, we expect it to get made faster, with no drop in quality, within 90 days.
30 minutes to set up, then a 15-minute check-in each month
Leadership & letting go
Ask, don’t answer
If we (leaders) answer problems with questions instead of solutions for 30 days, we expect people to start bringing solutions as well as problems.
No extra time, just a change of habit
Which option fits
- SnapshotFree · your own view
- Team ScoreYour whole team, confidentially
- Team Score + DebriefPlus my read and a callBest fit
The gap is the story here, and it’s easier to hear from someone outside the business. Our call starts with your blind spots.
See Team Score + DebriefExample: a scaling tech start-up
Growing fast, and you’ve become the bottleneck
Spot the two or three places where letting go would free up the most.
The situation
We’ve gone from 18 to 52 people in a year and a half. I still own the roadmap, most hiring calls and anything that touches a big customer. Stand-ups wait for me. I used to be the engine; now I’m the handbrake, and I can feel the team slowing down around me.
As a founder in this spot might put it. Illustrative, not a real person.
What the Score would show
When more than a third of the people who answered raise the same frustration, it isn’t one person’s grumble. It’s where to start.
What you might try
Leadership & letting go
The no-overrule pledge
If we (leaders) commit not to overrule decisions made within agreed boundaries, we expect people to make more decisions and to trust that the freedom is real.
30 minutes to agree the boundaries, then ongoing
Ownership & initiative
Stretch roles
If we let people who want more responsibility volunteer for stretch roles, we expect more ownership and less load on the usual few.
30 minutes to set up, then 20-minute check-ins
Which option fits
- SnapshotFree · your own view
- Team ScoreYour whole team, confidentiallyBest fit
- Team Score + DebriefPlus my read and a call
With forty-plus people answering you get the full picture, themes included. Try two experiments, then run it again after 90 days to see if the queue has moved.
See Team Score pricingExample: a hybrid team
Working apart, and out of the loop
See where information stops flowing when you’re not all in the same room.
The situation
Since we went hybrid, half the team is at home most days and the rest are split across two offices. The work gets done, but people hear about decisions in a chat thread a fortnight later. I keep saying my door is open, and then I only hear about problems once they’ve become a crisis.
As a founder in this spot might put it. Illustrative, not a real person.
What the Score would show
Information and feedback come out lowest. Because you said your team is mostly hybrid, your recommendations include remote-working ideas too.
What you might try
Information & transparency
Show your working
If we (leaders) share the reasoning behind every significant decision (the options, the trade-offs and the why), we expect more trust in decisions and fewer surprises.
About 15 minutes per significant decision
Tensions, feedback & learning
Start a tension log
If we give everyone a simple place to log tensions (gaps between how things are and how they could be), we expect issues to surface earlier and fester less.
20 minutes a week
Which option fits
- SnapshotFree · your own view
- Team ScoreYour whole team, confidentiallyBest fit
- Team Score + DebriefPlus my read and a call
Answer “mostly remote or hybrid” at set-up and your recommendations include remote-working ideas where they’d help. Everyone answers on their own device, wherever they are.
See Team Score pricingExample: a founder planning to step back
Getting ready to hand over
Know what your team can already run, and what to build before you step away.
The situation
In two years I want to step back from running things day to day, maybe into a chair role. My leadership team are keen. But I honestly don’t know what would happen if I disappeared for a month. Would decisions stall? And would anyone tell me the truth about how ready they are?
As a founder in this spot might put it. Illustrative, not a real person.
What the Score would show
The good news is often hiding in the gap: a team that’s readier than you are. The work is in how you let go, not whether they can cope.
What you might try
Ownership & initiative
Build the deciding muscle
If we build decision-making skills alongside new freedom, we expect people to feel ready to take on more responsibility.
About 1 hour a month
Leadership & letting go
Feedback on my leadership
If we (leaders) ask the team for feedback on how we lead and act on one thing, we expect trust in leadership to grow.
About 2 hours across the 90 days
Which option fits
- SnapshotFree · your own view
- Team ScoreYour whole team, confidentially
- Team Score + DebriefPlus my read and a callBest fit
A handover is a plan, not a moment. My written read ends with a recommended path and three experiments to start with.
See Team Score + DebriefIllustrative scenarios, not client stories
Every team, number and comment above is made up to show how the Score works.
Is it right for you?
A good fit, and when it isn’t (yet)
A good fit if…
- You lead a team of five or more, and you’d like it to stop needing you for every decision
- You want the honest version, even if parts of it are uncomfortable
- You’re ready to talk it through with your team and try a couple of small changes
- Your team works together, apart, or a bit of both
Not the right tool (yet) if…
- You’re a team of fewer than five. The Team Score can’t keep answers confidential below five, so we won’t run it. Take the free Snapshot, or book a Power Hour with me instead.
- You want to rate individuals. It must never be used to make decisions about anyone’s job, performance or pay.
- You want to single out one team or one person. Results are combined across at least five people, with no breakdown by team, level or length of service.
- You need a clinical or psychometric assessment. It’s a conversation-starter, not a verdict.
More than 250 people? Let’s talk first: email hello@libertymind.co.uk and we’ll set it up with you.
Who’s behind it
Real teams, real work with Lizzie
The scenarios above are made up. The work isn’t: I help founders move from top-down hierarchy to teams that run themselves.
Lizzie has worked with teams at
- PlayFundWin
- Traidcraft
- Pivot Search
- Froglife
- Electralink
- Making Moves
- Breathe
- Westminster Insights
- Progress Club
Working closely with Lizzie at Liberty Mind has certainly helped us answer questions relating to company values and workplace flexibility. … The journey has been thoroughly enjoyable and informative; throughout Lizzie has ensured we understand the mechanics behind the decisions we make.
Word for word from libertymind.co.uk. About my work with their team, not about the Score.
Three minutes, ten questions
Find out which one is yours
Start with your own view. You’ll get your score, your band and a clear first step, straight away.
Start the free Snapshot
Example: a 30-person social enterprise
Big on purpose, slow on decisions
Find out where people still wait for permission, even though everyone shares the mission.
The situation
Everyone here would walk through walls for our mission. But changing a supplier or trying a new way of running a session can take three meetings, and it still ends up with me or the board. People tell me they feel trusted. Then they ask permission anyway.
As a founder in this spot might put it. Illustrative, not a real person.
What the Score would show
The eight dimensions
Average of 26 people’s answers, strongest first
Purpose at the top, decision-making at the bottom: freedom on paper, permission in practice. The eight dimensions show exactly where decisions stall.
What you might try
Decision-making & authority
Try an advice process
If we let anyone make one agreed kind of decision once they have asked the people affected and the people who know most, we expect fewer decisions to stall and more people to feel part of them.
1 hour to design, then about 10 minutes per decision
Role clarity & accountability
Decision rights in one line
If we each write one line per role saying which decisions are ours to make, we expect fewer decisions bounced upwards and quicker answers.
20 minutes each, plus one 45-minute session
Which option fits
Thirty people is plenty for the full picture, and the playback kit helps you share what you find with everyone.
See Team Score pricing