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| Criterion | ![]() Systems Thinking Rich Picture | ![]() Operations Process Mapping | ![]() Decision Making Cynefin Workshop | ![]() Systems Thinking CATWOE 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. | With a confusing workflow that has many handoffs, the method makes the actual process visible. It shows where work is passed on, delayed, or duplicated, so improvement targets the right spots. | When problems are unclear, chaotic, or only seemingly familiar, standard recipes fall short. A Cynefin Workshop sorts situations by the nature of their problem and connects them with matching action logic. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-90 min | 1-3 h | 60-180 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-10 | 3-10 | 4-20 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Rich Picture, Problem Framing Notes | Process Map, Handoff List, Improvement Backlog | Cynefin Map, Domain-specific Actions, Sensemaking Notes | CATWOE Canvas, Root Definition, Stakeholder Perspectives, Constraints |
Tagsno overlap | Systems thinkingSoft systemsFramingVisualization | ProcessOperationsImprovement | ComplexitySensemakingDecision | Systems thinkingFramingStakeholders |



