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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Current Reality Tree |  Facilitation Six Thinking Hats |  Operations Barrier Analysis |  Decision Making Constraint 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 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. | For a risk that can only be managed through multiple layers of protection, the method examines the effectiveness of each barrier. It shows where safeguards are missing, too weak, or fail under real conditions. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 2-6 h | 45-90 min | 2-4 h | 30-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 4-12 | 2-6 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas | Perspective Notes, Decision Inputs, Action Items | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries |
Tagsno overlap | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality | FacilitationOptionsDecision | Root causeSafetyIncident | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions |