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| Criterion | ![]() Facilitation Mind Mapping | ![]() Systems Thinking Leverage Points | ![]() Systems Thinking Evaporating Cloud | ![]() Facilitation Alignment Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a topic is still unclear and too many thoughts surface at once, Mind Mapping creates an open surface for ordering them. It makes connections, subtopics, and starting points visible without fixing them too early. | Leverage Points show exactly where interventions in a system produce a disproportionate effect. It draws relationships, patterns, and feedback loops. The result is captured as a leverage map and action strategy. | The method makes visible why two seemingly incompatible demands arise and which assumption must be tested to resolve the conflict. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 15-45 min | Half day | 60-120 min | 1-2 h |
Participantsdifferent | 1-10 | 3-12 | 2-8 | 4-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Mind Map, Topic Clusters, Open Questions | Leverage Map, Action Strategy | Conflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next Experiments | Alignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions |
Tagsno overlap | BrainstormingIdeasMappingStructureFacilitation | Systems thinkingChangeStrategy | Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking | AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation |



