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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Evaporating Cloud |  Product Strategy Impact Mapping |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Systems Thinking Theory of Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | The method makes visible why two seemingly incompatible demands arise and which assumption must be tested to resolve the conflict. | When a goal needs to be connected to several possible paths, it shows chains of impact instead of feature lists. It connects business goal, behavior change, and measures. | 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. | Theory of Change translates a desired impact into a traceable chain of change. It makes assumptions, intermediate goals, and measurement points visible before a program is rolled out at scale. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 60-120 min | 45-90 min | 20–45 min | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 3-8 | Small cross-functional group | 4-12 |
Formatsame | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Conflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next Experiments | Impact Map, Outcome Hypotheses, Delivery Options | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | Theory of Change Map, Assumptions, Outcome Measures |
Tagsno overlap | Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking | OutcomesStrategyBehaviorPlanning | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | ImpactOutcomesSystems thinkingStrategy |