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Criterion
Rich Picture workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Systems Thinking
Rich Picture
Paper fishbone diagram with a measurable effect at the head and six labeled cause branches.
Operations
Fishbone Diagram
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.When a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers.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
LowLowHigh
Timedifferent
30-90 min30-60 min2-6 h
Participantsdifferent
2-102-83-8
Formatsame
WorkshopWorkshopWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Rich Picture, Problem Framing NotesFishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation BacklogCurrent Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas
Tagsno overlap
Systems thinkingSoft systemsFramingVisualization
Root causeQualityOperations
Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
Operations
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
Paper illustration of Scatter Diagram with its method-specific working model.
Operations
Scatter Diagram
Paper illustration for Theory of Constraints Thinking Process.
Systems Thinking
Theory of Constraints Thinking Process
Paper illustration for 8D Problem Solving.
Operations
8D Problem Solving