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| Criterion |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Facilitation Alignment Mapping |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Facilitation Six Thinking Hats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When an initiative stalls, the limit often lies not in the idea but in hard or soft boundary conditions. Constraint Analysis separates these limits and shows which of them can actually be shaped. | 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. | 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 topic gets stuck too quickly in the same thinking mode, Six Thinking Hats deliberately separates the perspectives. This means facts, risks, creativity, and emotional signals get worked through one after another instead of mixed together. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-90 min | 1-2 h | 20–45 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 4-12 | Small cross-functional group | 4-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Alignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | Perspective Notes, Decision Inputs, Action Items |
Tagsno overlap | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | FacilitationOptionsDecision |