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| Criterion |  Decision Making Decision Matrix |  Operations After-Action Review |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Decision Making Trade-off Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When several options collide with several criteria, comparison quickly becomes subjective. A Decision Matrix makes the trade-off visible and brings weighting, criteria, and options into a shared logic. | After missions or project phases with unclear outcomes, the method makes visible what actually happened and what can be learned from it. It separates course, effect, and causes so experience turns into solid improvement. | 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. | With limited resources, quality, speed, cost, and risk almost always compete with each other. Trade-off Analysis makes these tensions explicit and prevents decisions from producing hidden side effects. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 20-45 min | 45-90 min | 45-120 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 3-12 | 2-8 | 2-8 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Decision Matrix, Scoring Rationale, Selected Option | Lessons learned, Action items, Event summary | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Trade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted Downsides |
Tagsno overlap | DecisionCriteriaScoringTradeoffs | LearningOperationsImprovement | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions |