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| Criterion |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Innovation Reverse Brainstorming |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Innovation Brainstorming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | For persistent errors or blockages, the method shifts the view to the opposite of the desired effect. It exposes the mechanics of failure and makes hidden causes easier to grasp. This makes improvement more concrete and the problem clearer. | In early initiatives with many uncertainties, planning quickly turns too optimistic. A pre-mortem makes the expected failure visible in advance and sharpens the view of causes, gaps, and countermeasures. | 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. |
Complexitysame | Low | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 30-60 min | 20–45 min | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 3-12 | Small cross-functional group | 4-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Reverse Ideas, Risk Themes, Solution Ideas | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | Idea pool, Theme clusters, Shortlist |
Tagsno overlap | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityRisk | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityWorkshopDivergence |