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| Criterion |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Facilitation Dot Estimation |  Systems Thinking Evaporating Cloud |  Agile Ideal Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 size or effort can only be estimated roughly, Dot Estimation condenses the group's experience into a quick range. It turns individual contributions into a visible selection. The result is captured as an Effort Heatmap, Risk Signals, and Discussion Targets. | The method makes visible why two seemingly incompatible demands arise and which assumption must be tested to resolve the conflict. | When effort needs to be thought of as real working time, it offers a simple common denominator for comparison. It sorts work by value, risk, and delivery ability. The result is captured as Ideal Day Estimates, Assumption Notes, and Capacity Caveats. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 5-20 min | 60-120 min | 15-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 3-20 | 2-8 | 2-9 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Effort Heatmap, Risk Signals, Discussion Targets | Conflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next Experiments | Ideal Day Estimates, Assumption Notes, Capacity Caveats |
Tagsno overlap | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | EstimationEffortRisk | Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking | EstimationEffortAgile |