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Taiwa no FumenPractical methods for shared thinking

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Learning course 3

Handle difficult topics safely

Set participation conditions and speaking boundaries without erasing differences of opinion.

Judgement to practise in this course: Keep a record of what the session can address, what it will not address, and what needs checking next.

No registration or saved progress. Inputs are neither sent nor saved.

Case 1

Status differences prevent candid contributions

IAF competency reference C
Create and Sustain a Participatory Environment

1. Read the situation

An approver and staff members attend together. The approver presents their proposal first. Staff members nod, but no concerns are recorded.

  • Someone with appraisal authority is present
  • The first proposal came from the approver
  • Information not to be covered and the scope of recording are not agreed

2. Predict what comes next

If you now ask people for opinions in turn, what kinds of concerns will staff members be unable to voice?

Input is not sent and is lost when you leave the page. Do not enter personal information or the names of real people.

3. Choose an intervention

Choose the first intervention you would make in this situation

4. Check the result and reasons

Without JavaScript, all three choice results are shown.

Result of choice A

Failure example: responsibility for not speaking shifts to participants, while fears about appraisal or disadvantage remain.

Reason: Demanding psychological courage does not change the structure of unequal authority and information handling.

Result of choice B (Recommended)

What happens: participation conditions become visible commitments, allowing people to decide for themselves whether to speak.

Reason: Safety can be designed through specific boundaries for information, sequence, and choice, rather than atmosphere alone.

Result of choice C

Failure example: people may speak temporarily, but information risk increases because it is unclear who will hear the recording.

Reason: Physical absence alone does not resolve concerns about recording, sharing, or disadvantage after speaking.

Typical failure

Candour is left to individual courage, without agreement on authority, recording, leaving, or later use.

Recommendation for this case

Before starting, check what may be discussed, personal information that will not be covered, recording recipients, speaking order, and freedom to leave.

Reason: Safety is set through specific conditions participants can check, also protecting the choice not to speak.

Read Social Contract

Practice pack: 15 minutes

A 15-minute agreement practice for unequal authority

Two roles
Facilitator / Approver and observer
Rehearsal
Assume a session with status differences. Present the participation conditions in 90 seconds before the start and check agreement.
Observe
  • Was the choice not to speak made explicit?
  • Were recording recipients limited?
  • Was the approver asked to follow the same commitments?
Debrief
  • What risks cannot be resolved by commitments alone?
  • Under what conditions should a separate setting be arranged?
What to take away
Create an opening card with five items: participation, recording, information, leaving, and a contact for concerns.

Try this briefly with two colleagues, not the actual session's participants. The organiser separately judges safety and suitability for the real session.

Case 2

One of two conflicting needs may be discarded

IAF competency reference D
Guide Group to Appropriate and Useful Outcomes

1. Read the situation

Sales staff who want speed and operations staff who want careful checks begin describing each other as obstacles.

  • Both needs are necessary for the business
  • Discussion is shifting towards evaluating people
  • The question asks people to choose only one side

2. Predict what comes next

After voting on ‘speed or caution’, how will the minority side take part in implementation?

Input is not sent and is lost when you leave the page. Do not enter personal information or the names of real people.

3. Choose an intervention

Choose the first intervention you would make in this situation

4. Check the result and reasons

Without JavaScript, all three choice results are shown.

Result of choice A

Failure example: the minority stops providing necessary risk information, and resistance returns during implementation.

Reason: This loses the premise that both are necessary and turns tension into winning and losing.

Result of choice B

Failure example: the number may be a compromise, but the conditions for both speed and caution are not shared.

Reason: The facilitator supplies the answer without gathering constraints and practical ideas from those involved.

Result of choice C (Recommended)

What happens: conflict moves from people to conditions, and both sides' knowledge can inform the design.

Reason: Without rushing to eliminate tension, you can explore exceptions, sequence, and decision points needed for both needs to coexist.

Typical failure

Closing quickly through an either/or choice or a facilitator's compromise misses the conditions known by both sides.

Recommendation for this case

Ask instead, ‘How can we maintain the necessary speed while preventing irreversible mistakes?’ and gather the conditions.

Reason: This creates an entry point for working together on conditions that meet both needs, rather than on opposing positions.

Read Wicked Questions

Practice pack: 15 minutes

A 15-minute practice rewriting either/or questions

Two roles
Facilitator / Conflicting department
Rehearsal
Rewrite three ‘A or B?’ questions as ‘How can we do A while doing B?’ and identify the conditions that make this possible.
Observe
  • Was the need for both sides preserved?
  • Could criticism of people be brought back to conditions?
  • Did conditions emerge that could be tested?
Debrief
  • What is the difference between compromise and conditions for coexistence?
  • How will you record tension that cannot be resolved?
What to take away
Put the rewritten question, conditions, and a small experiment to test them on one sheet.

Try this briefly with two colleagues, not the actual session's participants. The organiser separately judges safety and suitability for the real session.

Case 3

The boundaries for sharing lived experience are unclear

IAF competency reference F
Model Positive Professional Attitude

1. Read the situation

A person with lived experience speaks while others listen. The organiser wants learning, but has not checked what the speaker does not want to discuss or secondary use of records.

  • The burden on the speaker and those learning is unequal
  • Advice and interpretation have not been requested
  • Withdrawal, pauses, and conditions for using records are undecided

2. Predict what comes next

If you immediately invite unrestricted questions and reactions, whose purpose will the speaker's experience be used for?

Input is not sent and is lost when you leave the page. Do not enter personal information or the names of real people.

3. Choose an intervention

Choose the first intervention you would make in this situation

4. Check the result and reasons

Without JavaScript, all three choice results are shown.

Result of choice A

Failure example: questions repeatedly demand explanation or justification, leaving the speaker responsible for protecting their boundaries.

Reason: The learners' curiosity is prioritised without designing the right not to answer or the scope that will not be addressed.

Result of choice B (Recommended)

What happens: the speaker chooses what to discuss, while listeners can avoid rushing to interpretation or advice.

Reason: Separating roles and recording boundaries makes it less likely that experience will be consumed as material for others' discussion.

Result of choice C

Failure example: the voice or specific circumstances may allow re-identification, and unforeseen secondary use may occur.

Reason: A promise of anonymisation alone does not define the need for collection, storage, scope of use, or withdrawal.

Typical failure

Questions, interpretations, and records for learners take priority, without conditions that let the speaker pause, decline, or withdraw.

Recommendation for this case

Check the scope of consent, right not to answer, pauses, recording, and secondary use beforehand. Limit observers to the agreed factual record.

Reason: This protects self-determination about participation and information, without consuming the speaker's experience as learning material.

Read User Experience Fishbowl

Practice pack: 15 minutes

A 15-minute boundaries practice that does not consume experience

Two roles
Facilitator / Speaker and observer
Rehearsal
Demonstrate checking consent before a person speaks and intervening to stop a question that crosses a boundary.
Observe
  • Was the right not to answer explicit?
  • Were the purpose of recording and its recipients limited?
  • Was a source of support after a pause identified?
Debrief
  • How did you distinguish curiosity from necessary questions?
  • Under what conditions would you not use this format?
What to take away
Create a checklist for consent, pauses, recording, secondary use, and post-session support.

Try this briefly with two colleagues, not the actual session's participants. The organiser separately judges safety and suitability for the real session.

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