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| Criterion |  Engineering Goal Question Metric |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Facilitation Alignment Mapping |  Product Strategy Counter Metrics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | Helps clarify technical problems, hypotheses, and next steps in concrete terms. It breaks a technical problem into testable parts. The result is captured as a GQM table and metric briefs. | 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. | When several people work toward one goal but hold different mental maps, Alignment Mapping makes the discrepancies visible. It arranges goals, assumptions, and priorities so shared direction becomes verifiable. | When a headline metric could mask side effects, it adds guardrail signals against unwanted outcomes. It connects customer value, product logic, and decision priorities. The result is captured as a counter-metric list and guardrail definitions. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 90-180 min | 45-90 min | 1-2 h | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-6 | 2-8 | 4-12 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | GQM Table, Metric Profiles | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Alignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions | Counter Metric List, Guardrail Definitions |
Tagsno overlap | MetricsMeasurementEngineeringAlignment | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation | MetricsMeasurementStrategyExperiments |