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Criterion
Paper illustration of a Polarity Map with two poles and four quadrants
Systems Thinking
Polarity Mapping
A hypothetical failure makes concrete risks, signals, and fitting mitigations visible.
Decision Making
Pre-Mortem
Paper illustration of Stakeholder Salience Model with its method-specific working model.
Facilitation
Stakeholder Salience Model
Paper illustration for Alignment Mapping.
Facilitation
Alignment Mapping
Purposedifferent
Polarity Mapping makes tensions between two opposing poles tangible, such as standardization and adaptation or control and autonomy. The method guards against making apparent either-or decisions prematurely.In early initiatives with many uncertainties, planning quickly turns too optimistic. A pre-mortem makes the expected failure visible in advance and sharpens the view of causes, gaps, and countermeasures.When stakeholders appear to matter very differently, the Stakeholder Salience Model rates their actual priority through power, legitimacy, and urgency. It turns individual contributions into a visible selection. The result is captured as a Salience diagram and a class-based strategy.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
MediumLowMediumMedium
Timedifferent
1-2 h20–45 min60-90 min1-2 h
Participantsdifferent
3-12Small cross-functional group3-64-12
Formatsame
WorkshopWorkshopWorkshopWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Polarity Map, Warning Signs, Balance ActionsRisk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption logSalience Diagram, Strategy per ClassAlignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions
Tagsno overlap
Systems thinkingTradeoffsLeadership
RiskDecisionFailurePlanning
StakeholdersFacilitationAlignmentGovernance
AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation
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