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| Criterion |  Decision Making Argument Mapping |  Facilitation Alignment Mapping |  Innovation Lotus Blossom |  Innovation Brainstorming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When statements, evidence, and counterarguments get mixed up, a debate quickly loses its structure. Argument Mapping breaks a thesis down into its reasoning and makes visible what it really rests on. | When several people work toward one goal but hold different mental maps, Alignment Mapping makes the discrepancies visible. It arranges goals, assumptions, and priorities so shared direction becomes verifiable. | When a central question feels too large, the method breaks it into neighboring topic fields with their own depth of ideation. It holds structure and openness at the same time, so adjacent perspectives don't get lost. This grows an idea space out of a core problem. | When a team faces an open question with many obvious directions, the method first creates breadth instead of premature commitment. It separates idea flow from evaluation and makes lines of thought visible, creating a pool for selection and further development. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 1-2 h | 45-90 min | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-8 | 4-12 | 3-10 | 4-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Argument Map, Evidence Gaps, Decision Rationale | Alignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions | Lotus Diagram, Idea Themes, Shortlist | Idea pool, Theme clusters, Shortlist |
Tagsno overlap | SensemakingDecisionRationale | AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityDivergenceWorkshop | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityWorkshopDivergence |