Method guide · Arrange people and ideas
25/10 Crowdsourcing
Narrow a large set of bold ideas through randomly exchanged, independently scored cards.
- People
- 15–100
- Base procedure time
- 25 minutes
- Recording
- Shared record
Purpose: Generate ideas; Organise and narrow ideas; Make a decision.
English guide
Text acceptance is not approval of this rendered page, its media, or publication.
How this method works
An in-person structure for generating ideas and narrowing them to the top 10 through random scoring. Use it when too many ideas are prolonging discussion, priorities reflect the preferences of the loudest voices, or the group wants to choose quickly which ideas to try next. Participants move around with their ideas, exchange cards, and add scores from 1 to 5 in five rounds without looking at earlier scores. This gathers assessments that are no longer tied to personal ownership, alongside the group's overall tendencies. The result is a ranked set of the top 10 ideas, each with a maximum score of 25, plus unexpected ideas worth retaining despite low scores. It is not suitable on its own for online situations where cards cannot be exchanged randomly in person, or for a detailed assessment of feasibility.
Phase schedule
Minutes are cumulative from the start of the base plan, not a live timer. Read scaling for any additional time. Phase controls do not advance automatically.
Use the arrow keys, Home or End while these controls have focus. The complete phase schedule remains below, including without JavaScript.
- Present the question0–3 minutes from the start (3 minutes)
Action: Present. Participation: Everyone.
Recording not separately specified for this phase
- Write an idea3–8 minutes from the start (5 minutes)
Action: Write. Participation: Individually.
Individual record
- Score the cards8–18 minutes from the start (10 minutes)
Action: Score. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
- Add the scores18–22 minutes from the start (4 minutes)
Action: Count. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
- Explore possibilities22–25 minutes from the start (3 minutes)
Action: Explore. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
Facilitation steps
- For 3 minutes, present the shared challenge to everyone: ‘If you were 10 times bolder, what would you propose and what would you do first?’
- For 5 minutes, each person briefly writes their boldest idea and a first step on one information card.
- For 10 minutes, signal at 1-minute intervals for people to walk and exchange cards randomly. At each stop, hide earlier scores and add a score from 1 to 5. Finish after five rounds.
- For 4 minutes, after the fifth stop, add the scores on the card each person holds. Count down from 25 and display the top 10 ideas on the wall.
- For 3 minutes, discuss unexpected low-scoring ideas and where to try the leading ideas next.
If something changes
If
Thirty seconds after movement starts in the first round, 3 or more people have not exchanged a card.
Then
Signal that everyone must exchange once with someone nearby before beginning to walk.
If
At the end of round 3, more than one quarter of the cards have fewer than 3 scores on the back.
Then
Do not begin the next movement. Stay in place and have people score the cards one at a time for the missing number of rounds.
If
After the fifth stop, 3 or more cards do not have exactly 5 scores.
Then
Keep the existing scores hidden, pass each card to people who have not scored it, and add only the missing scores before totalling it.
Preparation
Materials
- One information card per person, at least business-card size
- One dark-coloured pen per person
- One wall or whiteboard with enough width to display the top 10 ideas
- One timer for facilitation signals at 1-minute intervals
Room and setup
- An open floor with tables and chairs moved to the edges, large enough for everyone to walk around
- One area for exchanging cards, with clear space in front of the display wall
Adjust for people and time
With fewer than 15 people, there is too little variety in exchange partners and assessments for this format. Up to 50 people, exchange cards five times within one movement area. Above 50, divide the room into areas of no more than 50 people. Score the same challenge in each area and bring the totals to one display. With 100 people, combine the leading ideas from the two areas and count down from 25 points to select the overall top 10.
Safety and non-applicable situations
Use the scoring to identify ideas for further exploration, not as a stand-alone feasibility assessment. Retain unexpected ideas even when their scores are low. The format requires random in-person card exchanges.
Historical translation and source notes
These original notes are retained verbatim with their fixed source versions. This historical label does not resolve a source-specific concern or establish current acceptance.
- The Japanese scaling text combines leading ideas from two areas while counting down from 25 points. This draft preserves that wording without inventing a rule for combining duplicate ideas or changing the scoring system.
Manuscript's recorded references
These translate the original manuscript's source and rights claims. They remain separate from any current-page notice below; they do not establish new verification.
- Liberating Structures Fieldbook (2026): 25/10 Crowdsourcing — Henri Lipmanowicz / Keith McCandless / Nancy White
https://www.liberatingstructures.com/25-10-crowdsourcing
Adaptation under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes made
- CC BY-SA 4.0
Current-page licence notice
This explanation is an adaptation for Taiwa no Fumen based on the official Liberating Structures page linked below. The manuscript's recorded references are listed separately from the web page checked on 17 October 2026.
Changes: the Japanese explanation and facilitation plan have been edited for Taiwa no Fumen. The English edition translates that Japanese manuscript; it is not a verbatim translation of the official page.
The LS-adapted text on this page, including this site's editorial and translation contributions, is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. When reusing it, credit the creators, identify the source and licence, indicate changes, and follow the licence's ShareAlike terms when sharing adaptations.
This site's notation diagrams and on-screen illustrations explain the facilitation process. They are not presented as official LS icons.
Method names are used to identify their sources. This is not an official LS website, and no endorsement or approval by the creators or rights holders is implied.
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Credits on the checked source page
- Developed by: Henri Lipmanowicz, Keith McCandless
Source page checked on 2026-10-17: 25/10 Crowdsourcing.
Source lineage
- Original repertoire (2013): Henri Lipmanowicz, Keith McCandless
- 2026 Fieldbook: Keith McCandless, Nancy White
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International · Legal code · Official source policy
This material-specific notice does not itself establish publication clearance. Preserved manuscript references above remain separate from the current page's credits and licence evidence.
Diagram, print, and video language
Original Japanese guide, diagram, and print view. Their labels and print text have not been translated; an English print edition is not provided here.
English video-library navigation. Original Japanese audio, subtitles and transcripts remain labelled Japanese resources. Their translations are separate later work. No remote player is embedded here.
The manual English phase controls are a navigation aid, not a live facilitation timer. Interactive diagram motion remains pending.
Editorial provenance
Japanese source status and logs are provenance only. They do not mean this English text or interface was field-tested. Historical fixed-text acceptance and hold records remain specific to their recorded versions; displaying them neither asserts current acceptance nor resolves source-specific restrictions.