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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Evaporating Cloud |  Innovation Starbursting |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Innovation Reverse Brainstorming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | The method makes visible why two seemingly incompatible demands arise and which assumption must be tested to resolve the conflict. | Helps clarify ideas, open questions, and testable next steps in concrete terms. It opens the thinking space, collects ideas, and leads to testable options. The result is captured as a star-shaped question map, question list, and assumption list. | 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. | For persistent errors or blockages, the method shifts the view to the opposite of the desired effect. It exposes the mechanics of failure and makes hidden causes easier to grasp. This makes improvement more concrete and the problem clearer. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 60-120 min | 30-60 min | 45-90 min | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 3-10 | 2-8 | 3-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Conflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next Experiments | Star-Shaped Question Map, Question List, Assumption List | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Reverse Ideas, Risk Themes, Solution Ideas |
Tagsno overlap | Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking | BrainstormingIdeationWorkshopDiscovery | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityRisk |