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| Criterion |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Systems Thinking CATWOE Analysis |  Decision Making Trade-off Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it. | CATWOE structures a problem from six viewpoints and prevents too narrow a view of the situation. Different experiences of the system become comparably discussable this way. | With limited resources, quality, speed, cost, and risk almost always compete with each other. Trade-off Analysis makes these tensions explicit and prevents decisions from producing hidden side effects. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 45-90 min | 45-120 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 3-8 | 2-8 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | CATWOE Canvas, Root Definition, Stakeholder Perspectives, Constraints | Trade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted Downsides |
Tagsno overlap | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | Systems thinkingFramingStakeholders | TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions |
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