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Criterion
Paper illustration of a four-column Kanban board with limited ongoing work, a visible blocker and a review loop.
Engineering
Kanban
Value Stream Mapping workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Delivery
Value Stream Mapping
Paper illustration for Option Framing.
Decision Making
Option Framing
Paper illustration for TOWS Matrix.
Business Strategy
TOWS Matrix
Purposedifferent
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.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.In early decisions, alternatives are often still vague, incomplete, or blended together. Option Framing brings every possibility into a comparable form and makes visible which variant actually fits the question.The TOWS Matrix connects internal strengths and weaknesses with external opportunities and threats into action-oriented strategies. It goes a step further than a pure stocktaking.
Complexitysame
MediumMediumMediumMedium
Timedifferent
Ongoing1-3 h45-120 min1-2 h
Participantsdifferent
2-124-103-83-10
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Kanban board, WIP policies, Flow metricsCurrent-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck listOption Frames, Assumption Notes, Comparable Shortlist, Decision InputsTOWS Matrix, Strategic Options, Priority Actions
Tagsno overlap
FlowVisual managementDelivery
LeanFlowWasteDelivery
OptionsDecision framingStrategyComparison
StrategyAnalysisOptions
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