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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Future Reality Tree |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Systems Thinking Current Reality Tree |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | High | High | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 2-4 h | 2-6 h | 45-90 min | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 3-10 | 2-8 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Future Reality Tree, Negative Branches, Assumption List, Improved Injections | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas |
Tagsno overlap | Theory of ConstraintsSystems thinkingChange | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality |