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Criterion
How Might We
Innovation
How Might We
Paper illustration of a Polarity Map with two poles and four quadrants
Systems Thinking
Polarity Mapping
Rich Picture workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Systems Thinking
Rich Picture
Paper illustration for 1-2-4-All.
Facilitation
1-2-4-All
Purposedifferent
With a stuck problem carrying many implicit assumptions, the method translates observations into open, workable questions. It sharpens the problem frame without pre-thinking the solution, turning frustration or fuzziness into a search space with clear direction.Polarity Mapping makes tensions between two opposing poles tangible, such as standardization and adaptation or control and autonomy. The method guards against making apparent either-or decisions prematurely.A Rich Picture brings an unclear situation onto a shared drawing. It captures actors, tensions, information flows, and blind spots before the team jumps to solutions too early.When many people in a group too rarely get to speak, 1-2-4-All distributes thinking time more fairly. The format builds participation step by step and makes quiet or still-unformed thoughts usable faster.
Complexitydifferent
LowMediumLowLow
Timedifferent
30–45 min1-2 h30-90 min10-20 min
Participantsdifferent
1-103-122-104-100+
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshopWorkshop
Outputdifferent
HMW Questions, Challenge Framing, Idea PromptsPolarity Map, Warning Signs, Balance ActionsRich Picture, Problem Framing NotesIdea List, Shared Insights, Emergent Themes
Tagsno overlap
FramingOpportunityIdeationQuestions
Systems thinkingTradeoffsLeadership
Systems thinkingSoft systemsFramingVisualization
FacilitationInclusionIdeation
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