methodatlas
Compare

View methods side by side.

Choose up to four methods. Add them using the search and share the comparison by copying its link.

Criterion
A hypothetical failure makes concrete risks, signals, and fitting mitigations visible.
Decision Making
Pre-Mortem
Paper illustration of an assumption matrix with prioritized test cards
Decision Making
Assumption Surfacing
Architecture Inception Canvas method illustration showing its working structure
Architecture
Architecture Inception Canvas
Paper illustration for Constraint Analysis.
Decision Making
Constraint Analysis
Purposedifferent
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.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.The Architecture Inception Canvas bundles the first architecture questions into a compact decision picture. It fits when an initiative is still in motion but still needs clear guardrails.When an initiative stalls, the limit often lies not in the idea but in hard or soft boundary conditions. Constraint Analysis separates these limits and shows which of them can actually be shaped.
Complexitysame
LowLowLowLow
Timedifferent
20–45 min45-90 min1-2 h30-90 min
Participantsdifferent
Small cross-functional group2-83-82-8
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption logAssumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning PlanInception Canvas, Risks, Goal List, Open QuestionsConstraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries
Tagsno overlap
RiskDecisionFailurePlanning
AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery
AlignmentArchitectureCanvas
ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions
Add more methods