Differences and the limits of agreement
Compare Benefits and Burdens
Check who benefits from a proposed measure and who bears its burdens, then narrow the candidates to options with conditions people can accept.
- People
- 6–24
- Session time
- 120 minutes
- Format
- In person
English session plan
Original program status: draft. Source safety category: Medium; this is not a guarantee of safety.
Preparation: Standard preparation. Facilitation team: 4 roles, including an experienced facilitator.
What this session can decide
Propose candidates for comparison and conditions for support. Do not make final decisions on restrictions of rights, pricing, or eligibility for benefits.
Outside its scope
- Do not use headcounts alone to erase burdens borne by a minority.
- Do not compare options only in monetary terms.
- Do not substitute for formal approval to implement.
Primary caution: Do not use headcounts alone to erase burdens borne by a minority.
Before starting
- Question and scope
- Check who benefits from a proposed measure and who bears its burdens, then narrow the candidates to options with conditions people can accept. Before starting, state the subject and time period in one sentence.
- What this session decides
- Propose candidates for comparison and conditions for support. Do not make final decisions on restrictions of rights, pricing, or eligibility for benefits.
- Recipient of the outputs
- The Recorder stores the final record of support or opposition, ability to participate in implementation, and conditions for deferral, so candidates can be narrowed without confusing support with participation in implementation.
- Boundaries for participation and information
- Explain that people can pass, take a break, or leave. Keep personal information, confidential information, and assessments based on personal attributes off the record surfaces. Assign a separate Participant support role.
- Organising team
- Assign the Lead facilitator, Recorder, Timekeeper, and Participant support before starting, and confirm who announces switches and stops.
- Next check-in
- Set a review date, viewers, and the person responsible for the next decision on the record of support or opposition, ability to participate in implementation, and conditions for deferral.
Who takes responsibility
- Lead facilitator
Keep Compare Benefits and Burdens within its purpose and exclusions, and announce the start and end of each stage.
From before the start through the end
- Recorder
Record the benefits-and-burdens table by affected party, conditional options, and the record of support or opposition, ability to participate in implementation, and conditions for deferral at each stage, then hand them to the recipient at the end.
From preparing record surfaces before the start through storage after the end
- Timekeeper
Notify the Lead facilitator 3 minutes before each stage ends and when switching to breaks or buffer time.
At the start of every stage and 3 minutes before its end
- Participant support
Receive requests to pass, take a break, leave, or check individually, and decide with the Lead facilitator whether resumption is possible.
From before the start through the end
Session flow
Minutes are measured from the session start. Method time, transition time, breaks and buffer are shown separately; they are not additional overlapping activities.
0–33 minutes
Examine benefits and burdens as a pair
Method: Benefit / Burden Pair · 0–30 minutes. Transition: 30–33 minutes (3 minutes).
For each candidate, write who gains what alongside who bears what burden. Label impacts on people not participating as assumptions and record whom to check with.
Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Participant support
Output: Benefits-and-burdens table by affected party
Handoff: Pass the burdens that need reducing to the stage for developing conditions that reduce them.
This stage may be shortened only in accordance with the stated conditions.
33–76 minutes
Develop conditions that reduce burdens
Method: Trade-off Bridge · 33–73 minutes. Transition: 73–76 minutes (3 minutes).
Choose one important benefit and one hard-to-accept burden as a pair. Revise them into a conditional option using a limited scope, deadline, trial, or complementary measure.
Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Participant support
Output: Conditional options
Handoff: Pass the candidates and conditions to the stage for checking support or opposition and ability to participate in implementation.
This stage is not marked as shortenable.
81–99 minutes
Check support separately from ability to participate
Method: Support and Action Ballot · 81–96 minutes. Transition: 96–99 minutes (3 minutes).
Record support or opposition to each option, ability to participate in implementation, and reasons for deferral separately. Keep serious reasons for deferral raised by a minority separate from the vote count.
Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Participant support
Output: Record of support or opposition, ability to participate in implementation, and conditions for deferral
Handoff: Pass the record of support or opposition, ability to participate in implementation, and conditions for deferral to the decision-maker.
This stage is not marked as shortenable.
What is retained and who receives it
Benefits-and-burdens table by affected party
Owner: Recorder
Prevent comparisons that emphasise benefits alone.
Conditional options
Owner: Recorder
Develop options that retain benefits while reducing burdens.
Record of support or opposition, ability to participate in implementation, and conditions for deferral
Owner: Recorder
Narrow the candidates without confusing support with participation in implementation.
Materials and setup
Material names, quantities, groups and handling instructions retain the fixed draft's original helper-derived guidance. Where a format is marked “Source material specification”, the entire bound English source material entry takes precedence over the old helper-derived format guidance. This format-only correction does not resolve other instruction or safety concerns. English names are not substituted into a Japanese-keyed lookup.
Everyday tools
- Sticky notes for options whose benefits and burdens will be compared
Quantity: 3 per person
Format: Sticky notes about 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into 4 pieces
Write only one option per note. Use a short sentence showing what would change and for whom, rather than the name of the person proposing it.
- Writing tools
Quantity: 1 per person
Format: Dark broad-tip pens or whiteboard markers
Check that ink flows and place them within participants' reach. Avoid pale-coloured pens.
- Dark writing tools
Quantity: 1 per person
Format: Dark broad-tip pens or whiteboard markers
Check that ink flows and place them within participants' reach. Avoid pale-coloured pens.
- Floor tape
Quantity: 1 roll per small group
Format: Low-tack masking tape
Check that it can be removed from an inconspicuous place on the floor or wall. Keep the edges flat and do not block walkways.
- Writing tools
Quantity: 1 per person
Format: Dark broad-tip pens or whiteboard markers
Check that ink flows and place them within participants' reach. Avoid pale-coloured pens.
Sheets to prepare by hand
- Benefits-and-burdens comparison table
Quantity: 1 per group plus 1 for whole-group consolidation
Format: Source material specification: One A3 benefit/burden/compensation comparison sheet per group, plus one for whole-group integration
Source-bound format display correction; the other fixed helper-derived guidance is unchanged.
Divide the work surface into 3 columns: Benefits gained, Burdens incurred, and Conditions or compensation that reduce burdens. Write a heading for each column rather than relying on colour alone.
- Person cards
Quantity: 6 per group
Format: Sticky notes about 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into 4 pieces
Do not buy special cards; write Person at the top of paper pieces. If participants fill them in, put one entry on each card and handwrite the necessary headings before starting.
- Position cards
Quantity: 2 per small group, 1 for each conflicting value
Format: A4 copy paper
Write each of the two conflicting values or positions in large letters on its own A4 sheet. Use thick lettering readable from a distance and keep the two sheets as a pair.
- Check with the person concerned cards
Quantity: 2 per small group, 1 for each position
Format: Sticky notes about 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into 4 pieces
Use Check with the person concerned as the heading, with Position to check, Person responsible for checking, and Deadline below it. Use these cards to avoid filling in an absent person's position by assumption.
- Loss cards
Quantity: 2 per person
Format: Source material specification: 2 loss cards per person, approximately A6 size
Source-bound format display correction; the other fixed helper-derived guidance is unchanged.
Write What I lose if we choose the other option at the top and leave the lower half blank for responses. Write one loss on each card in the person's own words.
- Trade-off condition cards
Quantity: 6 per small group
Format: Sticky notes about 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into 4 pieces
Write 3 fields from top to bottom: Loss to avoid, Trade-off condition, and How to check. Put only one condition on each card.
- Anonymous support ballots and named implementation-participation ballots
Quantity: 1 of each per person
Format: Sticky notes about 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into 4 pieces
Make a pair of ballots. Label one Support ballot: anonymous and the other Implementation ballot: name. On the support ballot, write support for an option; on the implementation ballot, write willingness to take on the first task and the person's name. Do not place the two types in the same collection area.
- Table for counting support separately from participation in implementation
Quantity: 1 per table
Format: A4 copy paper
Divide the work surface into 2 columns: Number of support ballots and Number of people who signed up to implement. Write a heading for each column rather than relying on colour alone.
Materials chosen for the session conditions
- Separate collection areas for support and implementation ballots
Quantity: 1 of each per table
Format: Two envelopes or empty boxes already available; if neither is available, divide the tabletop into two areas with masking tape
Label one Support ballots: anonymous and the other Implementation ballots: named in large letters. Place the two apart and keep them separate after collection.
Setup for each method
Benefit / Burden Pair
- 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
Trade-off Bridge
- Small groups of 4–8; 1–5 groups
- Two positions at least 3 m apart per group, displaying the competing values
- Give needs-confirmation cards to groups that cannot include at least one participant who actually chose each position
- One floor area per group between the positions, at least 1 m wide, with room for 6 exchange-condition cards
Support and Action Ballot
- Make tables of no more than 10 people and keep the two collection areas apart at each table
- Display one proposal, required support count, and required number of people taking action where all tables can see them
When to switch or stop
Fallbacks
- There are more than 6 candidates.
Compare only the top 4 whose feasibility has been confirmed.
Method guide: Benefit / Burden Pair
Stop conditions
- A rights infringement or a serious safety-related burden is identified.
- Stop the vote and defer the candidate until a specialist check is complete.
- A burden on an absent affected party is asserted as fact.
- Reclassify it as an assumption and assign an owner and deadline for checking with that party.
Sources, rights and limits
This site has composed this programme's purpose, connections between methods, facilitation, roles, outputs, and switching conditions. See each method's individual page for its sources and licence.
Original source records and their required notices are retained below. Their presence does not mean a new legal or cultural-safety clearance. Original citation titles are kept in their source language.
Sources and required notices for the 3 methods used
Benefit / Burden Pair
- 対話の譜面編集部: 便益・負担の対 — Original description and diagrams
- Source: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team: Benefit / Burden Pair | Original description and diagrams
- Attribution: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team | This site's text and diagrams
- Cultural caution: open-method screening complete: No closed, ritual, or sacred cultural practice is used as a source; declining participation, sensitive information, and power differences are addressed in each method's limits and branches.
- Limits of this record: The editorial team independently created the text, procedure, and diagram. No exclusive rights are claimed over general dialogue operations or ideas themselves.
Trade-off Bridge
- 対話の譜面編集部: トレードオフの橋 — Original description and diagrams
- Source: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team: Trade-off Bridge | Original description and diagrams
- Attribution: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team | This site's text and diagrams
- Cultural caution: open-method screening complete: No closed, ritual, or sacred cultural practice is used as a source; declining participation, sensitive information, and power differences are addressed in each method's limits and branches.
- Limits of this record: The editorial team independently created the text, procedure, and diagram. No exclusive rights are claimed over general dialogue operations or ideas themselves.
Support and Action Ballot
- 対話の譜面編集部による設計 — This description is original
- Source: Designed by the Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team | This description is original
- Attribution: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team | This site's text and diagrams
- Cultural caution: This manifest contains no structured cultural-safety assessment. A person checks context, the option to decline participation, and power differences.
- Limits of this record: Only the notices displayed in the public YAML were transcribed. No claim is made that individual rights do not exist.
Historical fixed-draft notes
The original fixed draft notes are retained without deletion as historical records of those fixed source versions. Current material format corrections are separately identified above; these notes do not imply that other concerns have been resolved.
- The Trade-off Bridge loss-card sourceRaw specifies approximately A6, while the display preparation format permits approximately 75 × 75 mm sticky notes or quartered A4 paper. Both source descriptions are retained without selecting a replacement size.
Japanese resources and historical source records
Original Japanese plan and its print view · Japanese operation pack or starter materials
An English print edition is not provided here. The linked plans, print views and operation materials are Japanese resources.
Historical recorded publication holds
The following original hold statements are retained verbatim with their fixed source versions. They are not a statement of current acceptance, nor does this historical label resolve a source-specific restriction.
- English translation and rendered-page independent acceptance pending
- Method dependency source/text SHA binding and current source-specific rights verification pending
- Publication not cleared
Historical fixed-source and English-draft provenance
Japanese program SHA-256: db621e12a3d608c2040cf1e912201c9d12f35bed44b6df607a0dfbb859ef9274
Fixed source context SHA-256: 1e51c049a8a347d9dee47df005fcb9f02d16347b9566cac72b5e87f9869dfaaa
English draft SHA-256: d78023e7b53fc17d8eda2108305280604798f1618ef3cf027a2e9518b6645a0b
- benefit-burden-pair: source
65927650c3bbeae97302d00a432ca401026b8a92d10221b7847cb5d4821ab0ba; English draft711cc94c8c8e52bc22d109dabd751704dc21727ff29c8a901d05660e878b544c - support-and-action-ballot: source
a0e8a30418440d91eb8c25199b3a60b0acb2423d95031de2808cfcd33f60c3b2; English draft1b5ac4982cffb5fed160e6c24d2ce06fe8a6ae9f06d08100399a19330a1565e5 - tradeoff-bridge: source
602fc9e3596f8928a4d25eaf9810d5c7fff4bfaed8a107ded12cb70dfa78acc3; English draft372839ac74474c8b05acebf2553e3f2fa8d12339a10f9950cdf6e54fb39eb5ba
These hashes identify the checked inputs; they do not grant independent acceptance or publication clearance.