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| Criterion | ![]() Decision Making Decision Tree | ![]() Systems Thinking Evaporating Cloud | ![]() Systems Thinking Current Reality Tree | ![]() Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For decisions with follow-on paths and dependencies, a linear comparison is often not enough. A Decision Tree shows how options branch under conditions and which consequences hang on each branch. | The method makes visible why two seemingly incompatible demands arise and which assumption must be tested to resolve the conflict. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 30-90 min | 60-120 min | 2-6 h | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-6 | 2-8 | 3-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Decision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List | Conflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next Experiments | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan |
Tagsno overlap | DecisionTreeOptions | Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery |



