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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Futures Wheel |  Delivery Value Stream Mapping |  Operations Gemba Walk |  Engineering Kanban |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | When delivery work dissolves into wait times, handoffs, and hidden effort, Value Stream Mapping makes the actual flow visible. The method exposes bottlenecks, idle time, and feedback loops so lead time and improvement levers become tangible. | When there is uncertainty about the real course of a process, the method brings observation to the place where work happens. It combines perception, follow-up questions, and process knowledge so decisions rest on actual workflows instead of assumptions. | When work sits in too many parallel streams, throughput suffers and no one sees the bottlenecks. Kanban makes the flow of work visible and limits overload so a system becomes calmer and more predictable. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 60-120 min | 1-3 h | 30-120 min | Ongoing |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 4-10 | 2-6 | 2-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Futures Wheel, Consequence Chains, Strategic Signals | Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck list | Observation Notes, Improvement Ideas | Kanban board, WIP policies, Flow metrics |
Tagsno overlap | ForesightSystems thinkingSignals | LeanFlowWasteDelivery | LeanObservationProcessOperations | FlowVisual managementDelivery |