Beyond the KJ Method

2022-12-13 NISHIO Hirokazu Cybozu Labs Year-end Presentation

We recently held a KJ method study session at Loftwork.

• Held remotely via Zoom+Slack+Miro
• A little more than 40 people editing at the same time in a common place, interesting.
• 
• I gave a 30-minute lecture with 1-hour lecture materials distributed in advance, which I will talk about in the next 4 minutes, for more information: KJ Method Study Session @ Loftwork.

KJ method made by Jiro Kawakita [Jiro Kawakita.icon

• A lot has changed in 20 years.
  • First semester 1967 “Idea method”
  • Mid 1977 “Exploratory Studies of Knowledge”
  • Late 1988 “KJ Method: Let Chaos Speak for Itself”
• The “idea method” is the most well-known, but it is the earliest and earliest concept.
• Applied to diverse purposes in the decade since the “Ideation Act.”
  • The concept of the term “KJ method” has been broadened.
• Points that received a strong response from participants
  • Have you ever experienced an activity where a large group of people write things down on sticky notes and then a large group of people put them together?
  • Many people recognize this as the “KJ method.”
  • However, himself says, “If you do it alone first and your ability is not mature enough, undesirable compromises will occur.

What is an “undesirable compromise?”

• Let’s say seniors and juniors are working in pairs.
• 
• A senior said, “This is a circle.”
  • At this point, can the junior say, “From my point of view, it looks square?”
  • (Is it round? I think it’s square… but if senpai says it’s round, is that right… I don’t know what’s right…) just so you know.
  • This is the undesirable compromise.
  • A cylinder is neither round nor square. A cylinder is neither round nor square.

Feedback from participants

• I have a sense that what is being said in the areas of psychological safety and organizational diversity is being considered from a different perspective.
• That’s exactly right!

  • Not cause undesirable compromises

    • Team members need to talk about their “different ways of seeing”
    • Need an environment where there is no hesitation in doing so.
    • = Psychological safety environment

  • To improve the quality of “judgments”, we should try to connect information from a number of different perspectives with consistency.

    • Gathering “information from different perspectives” is easier when you have a diverse group of people with different points of view.

The Age of Pluralistic Organizations - A pluralistic organization with many values axes

• The KJ method of thinking gives hints for a new form of teamwork.
• On the other hand, the specific methods of the KJ method are old
  • Books from 1967 and 1988 only show how to do it before computers and smartphones became popular.
    • No groupware, of course.
  • What we did this time: Workshops with remote people in real time using Miro!
    • That way is not written anywhere in ‘s book.
• What we need now
  • While rediscovering the concept of the KJ method
  • Update the KJ method with modern tools
• The subject of the update is
  • It’s not Jiro Kawakita.
  • We who live in the present have to do it.
• How to do it.
  • We should each create our own style and exchange information.
  • because
    • We live in an era of diverse work styles and values.
    • It doesn’t work for any one person to say, “This is the right way to do it.
    • Each individual needs to find a way to fit in.

summary - [Tradition is about preserving the fire, not worshipping the ashes.

• What we need now
  • While rediscovering the concept of the KJ method
  • Update the KJ method with modern tools
  • Individuals will find the way that fits them best.

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