Differences and the limits of agreement
Build Shared Terms Across Perspectives
Discover different meanings of the same words and create definitions and examples usable in a meeting.
- People
- 4–16
- Session time
- 105 minutes
- Format
- In person
English session plan
Original program status: draft. Source safety category: Low; this is not a guarantee of safety.
Preparation: Less preparation needed. Facilitation team: Three operating roles.
What this session can decide
Agree practical definitions to use in this meeting. Do not change legal definitions, professional standards, or affected people's self-definitions.
Outside its scope
- Do not rule on the correct dictionary meaning.
- Do not impose labels on affected people from outside.
- Do not provide legal interpretations of specialist terms.
Primary caution: Do not rule on the correct dictionary meaning.
Before starting
- Question and scope
- Discover different meanings of the same words and create definitions and examples usable in a meeting. Before starting, state the subject and time period in one sentence.
- What this session decides
- Agree practical definitions to use in this meeting. Do not change legal definitions, professional standards, or affected people's self-definitions.
- Output recipient
- The Recorder stores the final definitions, included examples, and excluded examples so the same meanings can be reused in meeting minutes and the next meeting.
- Participation and information boundaries
- Offer speaking, writing, or passing as participation choices. Keep personal information, confidential information, and attribute-based evaluation off the record surface.
- Operating roles
- Assign Lead facilitator, Recorder, and Timekeeper before starting, and confirm who announces switching and stopping.
- Next review
- Set a review date, viewers, and the person responsible for the next decision on the definitions, included examples, and excluded examples.
Who takes responsibility
- Lead facilitator
Keep Build Shared Terms Across Perspectives within its purpose and exclusions, and announce the start and end of each stage.
From before the start through the end
- Recorder
Record the term-and-meaning mapping table, checked summary and revisions, and definitions, included examples, and excluded examples 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
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.
0–48 minutes
Map terms across perspectives
Method: Counterpart Lexicon Map · 0–45 minutes. Transition: 45–48 minutes (3 minutes).
Each perspective writes commonly used words and the concrete states they refer to. Connect similar terms with lines and mark terms whose meanings differ for caution.
Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Timekeeper
Output: Term-and-meaning mapping table
Handoff: Pass terms marked for caution to the summary check.
This stage may be shortened only in accordance with the stated conditions.
48–63 minutes
Check understanding of meanings
Method: Confirming Summary · 48–60 minutes. Transition: 60–63 minutes (3 minutes).
The Recorder briefly summarises caution-marked terms in their own words. The original speaker indicates Agreement, Correction, or Deferral.
Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Timekeeper
Output: Checked summary and revisions
Handoff: Pass checked meanings and deferred terms to definition work.
This stage is not marked as shortenable.
68–91 minutes
Set definitions to use in the meeting
Method: Shared Definition Wall · 68–88 minutes. Transition: 88–91 minutes (3 minutes).
For key terms, write the definition used in this meeting, concrete examples, and examples that do not fit. For unagreed terms, retain provisional wording, whom to check with, and a review date.
Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Timekeeper
Output: Definitions, included examples, and excluded examples
Handoff: Reflect the glossary in meeting minutes, materials, and the next session's facilitation.
This stage is not marked as shortenable.
What is retained and who receives it
Term-and-meaning mapping table
Owner: Recorder
Find differences in meaning and synonyms.
Checked summary and revisions
Owner: Recorder
Reduce discrepancies between speakers' intentions and the record.
Definitions, included examples, and excluded examples
Owner: Recorder
Reuse the same meanings in meeting minutes and the next meeting.
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
- Writing implements
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.
- Broad-tip pens
Quantity: 2 for the whole group
Format: Dark broad-tip pens or whiteboard markers
Check that ink flows and place them within participants' reach. Avoid pale-coloured pens.
- Dark writing implements
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
- Trial-reading slips containing only candidate words and minimum necessary context
Quantity: 1 per item
Format: Sticky notes about 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into 4 pieces
Do not buy special-purpose materials. Write “Trial reading with candidate words and minimum necessary context only” at the top of each paper piece. If participants will write on it, use one item per piece and handwrite the required headings before starting.
- Table for checking candidate wording against the original
Quantity: 1 per group
Format: Two A4 sheets placed side by side; join with masking tape if more space is needed
Divide the work surface into 4 fields: “Original to check”, “Rewording candidate”, “Original inferred from the candidate” and “Where it can and cannot be used”. Do not rely on colour alone; write each field heading in words.
- Table for checking differences in the words used
Quantity: 1 sheet for the whole group
Format: Two A4 sheets placed side by side; join with masking tape if more space is needed
Divide the work surface into 3 fields: “Words actually used”, “Differences in meaning or use” and “Points held for judgement”. Do not rely on colour alone; write each field heading in words.
- Cards separating responses to the summary
Quantity: 1 set per person
Format: Sticky notes about 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into 4 pieces
Write “Correction”, “Omission”, “Hold” and “Do not record” on separate sheets, one label per sheet, and prepare the required quantity of each type. Distinguish them by written headings even when the colour is the same.
- Separate-channel cards for formal records and safety reports
Quantity: 1 sheet for the whole group
Format: Sticky notes about 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into 4 pieces
Do not buy special-purpose materials. Write “Separate channels for formal records and safety reports” at the top of each paper piece. If participants will write on it, use one item per piece and handwrite the required headings before starting.
- Key-term cards
Quantity: 1 per term addressed
Format: Source material specification: One key-term card per term, approximately A3 size
Source-bound format display correction; the other fixed helper-derived guidance is unchanged.
Write Key-term card at the top. Retain the specified work surface and leave space for participants to place or write content.
- Sticky notes for word meanings
Quantity: 3 per person
Format: Source material specification: 3 meaning cards per person, approximately A6 size
Source-bound format display correction; the other fixed helper-derived guidance is unchanged.
Write the meaning of the word being addressed as one short sentence per note. Write Exclusions and Specific decision examples on separate notes rather than mixing them into this note.
- Exclusion cards
Quantity: 2 per person
Format: Source material specification: 2 exclusion cards per person, approximately A6 size
Source-bound format display correction; the other fixed helper-derived guidance is unchanged.
Do not buy special cards; write Exclusion at the top of paper pieces. If participants fill them in, put one entry on each card and handwrite the necessary headings before starting.
- Decision-example cards
Quantity: 2 per person
Format: Source material specification: 2 judgement-example cards per person, approximately A6 size
Source-bound format display correction; the other fixed helper-derived guidance is unchanged.
Before starting, write just one example close to the content used in this method. Show it as an example of how to write, not a correct answer for participants to copy.
Information to gather before the session
- Non-overlapping sets A and B of anonymised original texts
Quantity: At least 3 items in each set
Format: A4 printouts of anonymised original text, or digital viewing data with the same content
Before the event, divide actual anonymised original texts into sets A and B with at least 3 items each. Do not put the same original in both. Check that names, contact details and other identifying information have been removed. Blank sheets labelled only with names are not a substitute.
Setup for each method
Counterpart Lexicon Map
- Record outside the table how the original accounts were collected and what was anonymised.
- Separate the creators of sets A and B and position them so neither can see the other's original accounts.
Confirming Summary
- Place participants’ actual words where everyone can read them and provide an anonymous route to indicate correction, omission, hold or do not record.
- Use no more than three key points and add no new interpretation. Keep common understanding, differences and unresolved matters separate; do not merge minority or conditional views into unanimous agreement.
- An oral summary does not replace legal minutes, formal testimony, safety reports or records requiring identity verification. Use a separate formal procedure when needed.
Shared Definition Wall
- A wall area with 3 columns for each key term: meaning, exclusions, and judgement examples; no more than 10 people per section
- At least 90 cm of space per term to retain up to 3 definitions vertically
When to switch or stop
Fallbacks
- There are more than 20 terms.
Limit the scope to 10 terms directly used for that day's decisions.
Method guide: Counterpart Lexicon Map
Stop conditions
- Someone rejects an affected person's self-definition or term they use for themselves.
- Stop definition work and check the person's own wording and its scope of use.
- A definition judgement under law or a professional standard becomes necessary.
- Do not assign a provisional definition; move it to matters for the responsible authority to check.
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
Counterpart Lexicon Map
- 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.
Confirming Summary
- Commons Library / Rhizome Facilitation Tools and Techniques: Summarising — CC-BY-SA-4.0 adaptation; changes made
- CC-BY-SA-4.0の適用条件 — CC-BY-SA-4.0
- Source: Commons Library / Rhizome Facilitation Tools and Techniques: Summarising | https://commonslibrary.org/facilitation-tools-and-techniques/#h-summarising | CC-BY-SA-4.0 adaptation; changes made
- Source: Conditions applying to CC-BY-SA-4.0 | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ | CC-BY-SA-4.0
- 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.
Shared Definition Wall
- 対話の譜面編集部: 定義の壁 — Original description and diagrams
- Source: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team: Shared Definition Wall | 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.
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 definition, exclusion, and decision-example sourceRaw cards specify approximately A6, while display formats permit approximately 75 × 75 mm notes or quartered A4. Both remain without a size correction.
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: c58d1c9c1bc73105331c2495c90649402d4f649860687da91d200463d8c36cb6
Fixed source context SHA-256: 7d9db8a3d54ea16a42bf0c9e0febda26ff118dd695f6f01ae3bfae7b7c2ae1a9
English draft SHA-256: ac9a0d1f1d3108a6429e6e3b13e130fbba13e4d4e76a7dcd822781043295d606
- counterpart-lexicon-map: source
ed266692805df1892c7892ab8c58482ef1264b00fd8d7ff63971ad3053dd32f4; English draftc38d5b06a384820d75498ac569f100dea4deb539698a28091ea141a3148a55db - rhizome-confirming-summary: source
96759687381af0fd18c1d9c883fbf98f97703b86d8753775cbcf88e615a37880; English draftb0f39d1cb937ab9ffcb298d1311138d39f2923c749656aee7c6a6d0f42b6f29e - shared-definition-wall: source
e74038b29c758bf19561b1db20737c6e19b32e9170bfe3344bcf90e01188f1b5; English draftf3ac8198921d391796bb31a5c9e8f4cce6170f96507a2786851311f7331badb3
These hashes identify the checked inputs; they do not grant independent acceptance or publication clearance.