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| Criterion | ![]() Systems Thinking Polarity Mapping | ![]() Architecture Request for Comments | ![]() Decision Making Assumption Surfacing | ![]() Product Discovery Assumption 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. | An RFC clarifies architecture context, options, and consequences. It structures technical context, alternatives, tradeoffs, open questions, and review feedback, and captures the result as an RFC document, reviewer comments, and a decision rationale. | Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it. | When assumptions still sit unordered in the room, it weighs uncertainty against leverage. It makes visible which hypotheses should be checked first. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-2 h | 1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung | 45-90 min | 45-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-12 | 3-20 Reviewer | 2-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Polarity Map, Warning Signs, Balance Actions | RFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or tickets | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Assumption map, Test backlog, Risk ranking |
Tagsno overlap | Systems thinkingTradeoffsLeadership | ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | AssumptionsRiskExperimentsValidation |



