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| Criterion | ![]() Systems Thinking Futures Wheel | ![]() Business Strategy Value Chain Analysis | ![]() Operations Fishbone Diagram | ![]() Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | The Futures Wheel helps explore the consequences of a decision, a trend, or a strategic move in a structured way. It makes visible which first, second, and third-order effects could arise from an event. | Value Chain Analysis shows where value is created, costs accrue, and differentiation becomes possible along the process. It compares strengths, risks, market logic, and courses of action. The result is captured as a value-chain map and lever list. | When a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers. | For a process, product, or service with noticeable failure risks, the method assesses possible failure modes in advance. It directs attention to combinations of occurrence, effect, and detectability. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 60-120 min | Half day | 30-60 min | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 3-8 | 2-8 | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Futures Wheel, Consequence Chains, Strategic Signals | Value Chain Map, Lever List | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions |
Tagsno overlap | ForesightSystems thinkingSignals | StrategyBusiness modelDiagnosisAnalysis | Root causeQualityOperations | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause |



