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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Current Reality Tree |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | A Current Reality Tree condenses many symptoms into a few causal chains. The method makes visible which core problems drive several negative effects at once. | 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. | 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. | For an event with a complicated course, the method breaks down the contributing factors along the timeline. It shows how conditions, decisions, and reactions together produce a course of events. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Low | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 2-6 h | 30-90 min | 20–45 min | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 2-8 | Small cross-functional group | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions |
Tagsno overlap | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline |