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| Criterion |  Innovation Brainstorming |  Systems Thinking CATWOE Analysis |  Facilitation Alignment Mapping |  Innovation Lotus Blossom |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 30-60 min | 45-90 min | 1-2 h | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 4-12 | 3-8 | 4-12 | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Idea pool, Theme clusters, Shortlist | CATWOE Canvas, Root Definition, Stakeholder Perspectives, Constraints | Alignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions | Lotus Diagram, Idea Themes, Shortlist |
Tagsno overlap | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityWorkshopDivergence | Systems thinkingFramingStakeholders | AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityDivergenceWorkshop |