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| Criterion | ![]() Systems Thinking Rich Picture | ![]() Systems Thinking CATWOE Analysis | ![]() Decision Making Constraint Analysis | ![]() Delivery Communication Plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | CATWOE structures a problem from six viewpoints and prevents too narrow a view of the situation. Different experiences of the system become comparably discussable this way. | 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. | When many people need to be informed in parallel and messages would otherwise arrive unevenly or too late, a Communication Plan orders communication reliably. Channels, audiences, and cadences interlock so important information doesn't get lost. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 30-90 min | 45-90 min | 30-90 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-10 | 3-8 | 2-8 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Rich Picture, Problem Framing Notes | CATWOE Canvas, Root Definition, Stakeholder Perspectives, Constraints | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Communication Plan, Channel Matrix, Message Cadence |
Tagsno overlap | Systems thinkingSoft systemsFramingVisualization | Systems thinkingFramingStakeholders | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | CommunicationStakeholdersDeliveryPlanning |



