There is no incorrect placement of cards in the KJ method.

The "nicely" in "put it where it fits" is subject, so it's different for everyone.

Suppose you have cards A, B, and C, and you think, "It feels right to stick A and B together and let go of C." Then another person X says, "It would be better to stick B and C together and let go of A. Then another person X says, "It would be better to put B and C together and leave A apart. It is not that your placement was incorrect. It is just that you and Mr. X have different subjective views. Even if you are observing the same thing, you and Mr. X have different perspectives and see things differently.

You may refer to the diagram on the following page - A cylinder looks like a circle or a square, but it is neither a circle nor a square - Even if you are right, it doesn't mean I am wrong.

On the other hand.

• There is "a way of arranging things that doesn't lead to useful results." If you arrange them to fit a known structure, the known structure will be reproduced; this will not yield an unknown.

• If "you" are a new employee and "Mr. X" is your senior:.

  • Even if you thought that Mr. X's arrangement "doesn't feel right" or "it would feel better if it were arranged this way," it would be difficult for you to say so.
  • Especially "fit" is subjective, so sometimes it is not possible to explain why "this arrangement is better, because -", so it is difficult to make a point.
    • By authoritarian gradient, Mr. X is missing a chance to get information that he doesn't have, better to actively elicit the opinion of a junior colleague.
  • If there is a difference in subjective opinion and you don't know which side to put it on, just duplicate it and put it on both sides. It is common for one thing to have multiple sides. It's funny to assume that a single sticky note can express this.
    • After duplicating and placing the sticky, if you want to change the text due to interference with the surrounding stickies, you can do so. Thus, "two meanings that were accidentally pushed into one sticky" are separated.

• KJ Method Study Session @ Loftwork

This page is auto-translated from /nishio/KJ法のカードの配置に不正解はない using DeepL. If you looks something interesting but the auto-translated English is not good enough to understand it, feel free to let me know at @nishio_en. I'm very happy to spread my thought to non-Japanese readers.