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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Futures Wheel |  Delivery Value Stream Mapping |  Engineering Kanban |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 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. | For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 60-120 min | 1-3 h | Ongoing | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 4-10 | 2-12 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Futures Wheel, Consequence Chains, Strategic Signals | Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck list | Kanban board, WIP policies, Flow metrics | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | ForesightSystems thinkingSignals | LeanFlowWasteDelivery | FlowVisual managementDelivery | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |