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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Polarity Mapping |  Systems Thinking Rich Picture |  Agile Starfish Retrospective |  Operations Accountability Ladder |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | A Rich Picture brings an unclear situation onto a shared drawing. It captures actors, tensions, information flows, and blind spots before the team jumps to solutions too early. | When improvement options need to be sorted more finely than just start and stop, it brings observations into clear kinds of action. This makes visible what should be done more, less, newly, or continued. | With defensive reactions to problems, the method shifts the view from justification to ownership. It makes visible which reaction stage a person or team is currently stuck on. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-2 h | 30-90 min | 45-90 min | 20-45 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-12 | 2-10 | 4-12 | 1-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Polarity Map, Warning Signs, Balance Actions | Rich Picture, Problem Framing Notes | Starfish Board, Practice Changes, Experiments | Ownership Reflection, Action Commitment, Coaching Notes |
Tagsno overlap | Systems thinkingTradeoffsLeadership | Systems thinkingSoft systemsFramingVisualization | RetrospectiveImprovementExperimentsTeam | ResponsibilityLeadershipTeam |