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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Rich Picture |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |  Systems Thinking Current Reality Tree |  Operations Barrier Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | For a risk that can only be managed through multiple layers of protection, the method examines the effectiveness of each barrier. It shows where safeguards are missing, too weak, or fail under real conditions. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | High | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-90 min | 2-6 h | 2-6 h | 2-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-10 | 3-10 | 3-8 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Rich Picture, Problem Framing Notes | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog |
Tagsno overlap | Systems thinkingSoft systemsFramingVisualization | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality | Root causeSafetyIncident |