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| Criterion |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Business Strategy McKinsey 7S |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Decision Making Force Field 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. | McKinsey 7S checks whether Strategy, Structure, Systems, Shared Values, Skills, Style, and Staff fit together. Organizational misalignments become visible across multiple levers as a result. | 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. | In change initiatives, supporting and restraining forces sit at the table at the same time. Force Field Analysis makes these tensions explicit and shows where change can be pushed forward by strengthening or relieving. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 20–45 min | 2-4 h | 45-90 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | Small cross-functional group | 3-12 | 2-8 | 3-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | 7S Assessment, Alignment Gaps, Change Actions | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Force Field Map, Change Levers, Risk Notes |
Tagsno overlap | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | OrganizationStrategyAlignmentChange | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | ChangeDecisionStrategy |