Method guide · Work with a structured grid
Benefit / Burden Pair
Compare who benefits and who bears burdens, then consider how each burden could be reduced, shared, or compensated.
- People
- 4–24
- Base procedure time
- 30 minutes
- Recording
- Shared record
Purpose: Make a decision; Explore through dialogue.
English guide
Text acceptance is not approval of this rendered page, its media, or publication.
How this method works
A method for pairing the people who receive an option's benefits with those who bear its burdens, and considering compensation. Use it when options are chosen only for convenience or effects, leaving burdens on time, money, and opportunities to speak unseen. Requiring the burden field to be filled before an option can be adopted brings less visible impacts into the conversation first. Do not offset benefits and burdens merely by counting people; record separately who experiences each, when, and to what extent. The result is a comparison sheet with compensation proposals. Do not use it to assess harm or discrimination without those affected, or to use compensation to justify a burden. When people bearing burdens are absent, record assumptions as points to check with them rather than treating guesses as facts.
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.
- Propose options0–5 minutes from the start (5 minutes)
Action: Propose. Participation: Everyone.
Individual record
- Write the benefits5–11 minutes from the start (6 minutes)
Action: Write. Participation: Groups of 3–6.
Shared record
- Write the burdens11–18 minutes from the start (7 minutes)
Action: Write. Participation: Groups of 3–6.
Shared record
- Choose compensation18–25 minutes from the start (7 minutes)
Action: Choose. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
- Keep the comparison25–30 minutes from the start (5 minutes)
Action: Keep. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
Facilitation steps
- For 5 minutes, write the options to compare and the scope that will change after implementation, one item per note.
- For 6 minutes, record for each option who benefits and what specific change they gain.
- For 7 minutes, record for each option who bears burdens and the added time, cost, and responsibility.
- For 7 minutes, choose one of three responses for each burden: reduce it, share it, or compensate for it.
- For 5 minutes, move options with an empty compensation field to pending, and record the comparison sheet for the remaining options.
If something changes
If
Three minutes into writing burdens, at least half the options still have empty burden fields.
Then
Consider, in order, people not carrying out the work, people supporting it, and people who will take it over later.
If
Four minutes into choosing compensation, 3 or more compensation proposals remain.
Then
Keep only the one that can reduce the burden soonest.
Preparation
Materials
- Three option sticky notes per person
- One A3 benefit/burden/compensation comparison sheet per group, plus one for whole-group integration
- One writing implement per person
- Six person cards per group
Room and setup
- One island table per group of no more than 6, with benefit and burden sides facing one another
- One work surface per group at least 60 cm wide, with room to spread the comparison sheet at A3 size
- One wall at least 1.5 m wide for posting only options being considered for adoption as benefit/burden pairs
Adjust for people and time
With fewer than 4 people, perspectives of beneficiaries and burden-bearers become one-sided, so do not use the method. Divide everyone into groups of no more than 6 whose sizes differ by no more than 1 person, each using one work surface. Transfer one option per group to the whole-group sheet. With 24 people, compare four options and always complete the compensation field for options being considered for adoption.
Safety and non-applicable situations
Do not assess harm or discrimination without the people affected, or use compensation to justify burdens. If burden-bearers are absent, record assumptions as questions to check with them, not as facts. Do not cancel benefits against burdens by headcount, adopt an option with an empty burden field, or take an option out of pending while its compensation field is empty.
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 phase labels specify groups of 3–6, while scaling specifies only a maximum of 6 and balanced sizes. This draft preserves both; it does not invent a required group-count algorithm or lower bound in scaling.
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.
- Taiwa no Fumen editorial team: Benefit / Burden Pair
Original description and illustrations
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.