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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Future Reality Tree |  Decision Making Argument Mapping |  Decision Making Trade-off Analysis |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | A Future Reality Tree shows how desired actions are meant to lead to a better system state. The method checks whether a path of change holds together logically before time flows into implementation. | When statements, evidence, and counterarguments get mixed up, a debate quickly loses its structure. Argument Mapping breaks a thesis down into its reasoning and makes visible what it really rests on. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 2-4 h | 1-3 h | 45-120 min | 30-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 1-8 | 2-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Future Reality Tree, Negative Branches, Assumption List, Improved Injections | Argument Map, Evidence Gaps, Decision Rationale | Trade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted Downsides | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries |
Tagsno overlap | Theory of ConstraintsSystems thinkingChange | SensemakingDecisionRationale | TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions |