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| Criterion | ![]() Product Strategy Impact Mapping | ![]() Systems Thinking Soft Systems Methodology | ![]() Product Strategy GIST Planning | ![]() Product Strategy Counter Metrics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a goal needs to be connected to several possible paths, it shows chains of impact instead of feature lists. It connects business goal, behavior change, and measures. | Soft Systems Methodology helps explore unclear or politically charged problems systematically. Instead of forcing a quick answer, the method builds a shared understanding of perspectives and room for action. | GIST Planning helps clarify target groups, value, goals, and priorities. It links customer value, product logic, and decision priorities, and captures the result as goals, an idea bank, and a step-project list. | 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 | High | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 0.5-3 Tage | Wochen bis Monate je Goal | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 5-15 | 3-10 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Impact Map, Outcome Hypotheses, Delivery Options | Rich Picture, Root Definitions, Conceptual Models, Change Agenda | Goals, Idea bank, Step-project list, Tasks, Learning reports | Counter Metric List, Guardrail Definitions |
Tagsno overlap | OutcomesStrategyBehaviorPlanning | Soft systemsComplexitySensemakingSystems thinking | RoadmapOutcomesPlanningExperiments | MetricsMeasurementStrategyExperiments |



