Method guide · Work with a structured grid
Reversible Choice Board
Separate reversible choices from costly reversals and plan time-limited trials with a clear way back.
- People
- 3–20
- Base procedure time
- 25 minutes
- Recording
- Shared record
Purpose: Make a decision; Build working relationships.
English guide
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How this method works
A method for sorting choices by ease and cost of reversal and deciding the order in which to try them. Use it when even small decisions stall and are treated as heavily as important ones. Try reversible choices with deadlines and gather more evidence only for those harder to reverse, separating caution from speed. Record who reverses a choice, the procedure, and time lost rather than labelling it reversible through optimism alone. The result is a choice board with trial deadlines and conditions for returning to the previous state. Do not use it to treat safety, legal, or human-rights decisions as lightweight experiments. If people will be affected during a trial, decide in advance where they can request a stop and how to check that the previous state has been restored afterwards.
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.
- List choices0–4 minutes from the start (4 minutes)
Action: List. Participation: Everyone.
Individual record
- Write how to reverse them4–10 minutes from the start (6 minutes)
Action: Write. Participation: Groups of 3–5.
Shared record
- Place the costs10–15 minutes from the start (5 minutes)
Action: Place. Participation: Groups of 3–5.
Shared record
- Choose trials15–21 minutes from the start (6 minutes)
Action: Choose. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
- Keep the board21–25 minutes from the start (4 minutes)
Action: Keep. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
Facilitation steps
- For 4 minutes, write choices to make this week and the changes expected, one per sticky note.
- For 6 minutes, write who would reverse each choice, the procedure, and the last point at which it can be reversed.
- For 5 minutes, examine reversal time, cost, and effects and place choices at low, medium, or high cost.
- For 6 minutes, choose 2 low-cost choices to try and a trial deadline for each.
- For 4 minutes, record the additional evidence and decision date needed for high-cost choices, then retain the board.
If something changes
If
Three minutes into writing reversal methods, 3 or more choices still have blank fields.
Then
Check whether the person who stops implementation and the reversal procedure can be written in one sentence.
If
Three minutes into choosing trials, 4 or more candidates remain.
Then
Keep up to 2 choices whose results can be seen within 1 week.
Preparation
Materials
- 3 choice sticky notes per person
- A3 reversible/irreversible choice boards: one per group and one for whole-group consolidation
- One pen per person
- One trial-deadline card per choice
Room and setup
- One two-dimensional surface per group, with ease of reversal vertically and reversal cost horizontally; do not draw a scale
- Space along the bottom edge for a strip showing trial order, at least 10 cm wide per group
- One wall surface where trial deadlines can be arranged by week to reveal concentrations
Adjust for people and time
Do not use this method with fewer than 3 people, because cost estimates cannot be cross-checked. Form groups of no more than 5, with sizes differing by no more than 1, each using one surface. Each group transfers up to 2 low-cost choices to everyone. With 20 people, arrange 8 choices from 4 groups and avoid concentrating trial deadlines in the same week.
Safety and non-applicable situations
Do not treat safety, legal, or human-rights decisions as lightweight trials. Record reversal responsibility, procedure, time, cost, and the last reversible point. Before trials affecting people, specify a place to request stopping and how to verify restoration afterwards.
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: Reversible Choice Board
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.
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Editorial provenance
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