Method guide · Work with a structured grid
Pros and cons
Compare benefits, drawbacks, and other points while preserving whose evaluation differs and excluding non-negotiable mandatory conditions from trade-offs.
- People
- 3–20
- Base procedure time
- 30 minutes
- Recording
- Shared record
Purpose: Explore through dialogue; Make a decision.
English guide
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How this method works
A comparison method for separating benefits, drawbacks, and other points while retaining differences in evaluation. First state the scope of judgement and mandatory conditions that must not be offset. Add whose evaluation each point represents; if the same point is seen as a benefit and drawback, retain it in both fields. Place unknowns, neutral facts, and conditional points in other rather than forcing them to one side. At the end, compare all three areas without erasing them and pass them to the next decision stage. Reread the output at the end and confirm who will handle it next and where it will be kept. Do not use this to decide mandatory legal, safety, or rights conditions by offsetting them against benefits.
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.
- Set options and mandatory conditions0–3 minutes from the start (3 minutes)
Action: Set. Participation: Small groups around a comparison table.
Shared record
- List benefits and who they affect3–10 minutes from the start (7 minutes)
Action: List. Participation: Small groups around a comparison table.
Shared record
- List drawbacks and who they affect10–17 minutes from the start (7 minutes)
Action: List. Participation: Small groups around a comparison table.
Shared record
- Separate unknowns into other17–23 minutes from the start (6 minutes)
Action: Separate. Participation: Small groups around a comparison table.
Shared record
- Compare while retaining different evaluations23–30 minutes from the start (7 minutes)
Action: Compare. Participation: Small groups around a comparison table.
Shared record
Facilitation steps
- For 3 minutes, show the options to compare, the scope of judgement, and mandatory conditions that must not be offset.
- For 7 minutes, write each option's benefits on the table, together with whom they benefit.
- For 7 minutes, write each option's drawbacks on the table, together with whom they disadvantage.
- For 6 minutes, write conditions that cannot be placed on one side, unknowns, and neutral facts in other.
- For 7 minutes, retain differently evaluated points on both sides and compare without erasing the three areas.
If something changes
If
17 minutes after the start, one or more options have an empty other field.
Then
Ask again about conditions or unknowns difficult to place as pro or con; if none apply, write none applicable.
If
In one or more groups, people propose placing the same point under both benefits and drawbacks.
Then
Do not erase either side; retain both and add whose evaluation each represents.
If
Even one contribution offsets a mandatory legal, safety, or rights condition against benefits.
Then
Remove that condition from the comparison table and move it to the mandatory-conditions field; stop comparing options that do not meet it.
Preparation
Materials
- One three-area comparison table per option per group
- 10 sticky notes per person
- 2 broad-tip pens per group
Room and setup
- A display surface where the same areas can be compared across options
Adjust for people and time
With 3–20 people, compare all options as one group. With 21 or more, divide the participant count by 20 and round up to determine the number of groups; distribute people evenly into groups of no more than 20, each with the same complete set of option tables. Afterwards, place the tables side by side and mark where the same point has different evaluations. Do not combine descriptions into one field by majority vote; pass the differences intact to the next decision stage.
Safety and non-applicable situations
Do not offset mandatory legal, safety, or rights conditions against benefits; stop comparing options that fail them. Keep whose evaluation a point represents, retain opposing evaluations in both fields, and do not force unknown or conditional points to a side or erase differences through majority merging.
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.
- Seeds for Change Facilitation Tools: Pros and cons
https://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/tools
anti-copyright adaptation; changes made
- Conditions for applying anti-copyright
https://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/resources
anti-copyright
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.
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Editorial provenance
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