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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Rich Picture |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | 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. | 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. | For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 30-90 min | 30-90 min | 2-6 h | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-10 | 2-8 | 3-10 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Rich Picture, Problem Framing Notes | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | Systems thinkingSoft systemsFramingVisualization | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |