1-2-4- All

Overview

The 1-2-4-All method is a fast idea-generating method in which all participants within a group engage. First, participants work individually, then in pairs (building on self-reflection), and then in groups of four to share and build on ideas. Finally, participants engage collectively in a powerful brainstorming session. In this method, participants combine know-how and imagination and create strategies with their own ideas. Since everyone in a group contributes, all feel ownership over the ideas generated.

Use this method to:

• Rapidly generate a large number of ideas.
• Make progress in a stalled discussion by engaging participants in searching for answers.
• Enrich the quality of observations and insights before expressing them in common.
• Build slowly toward a consensus or shared understanding.
• Foster spontaneous conversation after presenting the main topic, as an alternative to asking: Any questions?
• Make progress in a stalled discussion.