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| Criterion |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Facilitation Consensus Workshop |  Systems Thinking Evaporating Cloud |  Facilitation Alignment Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | When a group needs a solid decision without outvoting individual factions, a Consensus Workshop creates a negotiable common ground. It makes agreement, reservations, and open tensions discussable at the same time. | The method makes visible why two seemingly incompatible demands arise and which assumption must be tested to resolve the conflict. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 1-3 h | 60-120 min | 1-2 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 5-30 | 2-8 | 4-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Consensus Clusters, Theme Titles, Priority Areas | Conflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next Experiments | Alignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions |
Tagsno overlap | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | FacilitationConsensusWorkshopAlignment | Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking | AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation |