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| Criterion |  Innovation How Might We |  Systems Thinking Future Reality Tree |  Systems Thinking Evaporating Cloud |  Systems Thinking Rich Picture |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | With a stuck problem carrying many implicit assumptions, the method translates observations into open, workable questions. It sharpens the problem frame without pre-thinking the solution, turning frustration or fuzziness into a search space with clear direction. | 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. | The method makes visible why two seemingly incompatible demands arise and which assumption must be tested to resolve the conflict. | A Rich Picture brings an unclear situation onto a shared drawing. It captures actors, tensions, information flows, and blind spots before the team jumps to solutions too early. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 30–45 min | 2-4 h | 60-120 min | 30-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-10 | 3-8 | 2-8 | 2-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | HMW Questions, Challenge Framing, Idea Prompts | Future Reality Tree, Negative Branches, Assumption List, Improved Injections | Conflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next Experiments | Rich Picture, Problem Framing Notes |
Tagsno overlap | FramingOpportunityIdeationQuestions | Theory of ConstraintsSystems thinkingChange | Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking | Systems thinkingSoft systemsFramingVisualization |