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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Evaporating Cloud |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | The method makes visible why two seemingly incompatible demands arise and which assumption must be tested to resolve the conflict. | 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. | 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. | 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 | Low | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 60-120 min | 30-90 min | 2-6 h | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 2-8 | 3-10 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Conflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next Experiments | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan |
Tagsno overlap | Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery |