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Criterion
Rich Picture workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Systems Thinking
Rich Picture
Paper illustration for Causal Factor Analysis.
Operations
Causal Factor Analysis
Paper illustration for Current Reality Tree
Systems Thinking
Current Reality Tree
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.For an event with a complicated course, the method breaks down the contributing factors along the timeline. It shows how conditions, decisions, and reactions together produce a course of events.A Current Reality Tree condenses many symptoms into a few causal chains. The method makes visible which core problems drive several negative effects at once.
Complexitydifferent
LowHighHigh
Timedifferent
30-90 min2-6 h2-6 h
Participantsdifferent
2-103-103-8
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Rich Picture, Problem Framing NotesEvent Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective ActionsCurrent Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas
Tagsno overlap
Systems thinkingSoft systemsFramingVisualization
CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline
Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality
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Often compared together

Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration for Theory of Constraints Thinking Process.
Systems Thinking
Theory of Constraints Thinking Process
Paper illustration of Barrier Analysis with its method-specific working model.
Operations
Barrier Analysis
Paper illustration for CATWOE Analysis.
Systems Thinking
CATWOE Analysis