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| Criterion |  Facilitation Six Thinking Hats |  Operations ALPEN Method |  Decision Making Decision Tree |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a topic gets stuck too quickly in the same thinking mode, Six Thinking Hats deliberately separates the perspectives. This means facts, risks, creativity, and emotional signals get worked through one after another instead of mixed together. | With an overloaded day full of too many tasks, a realistic picture of the day emerges. The method connects estimating, deciding, and buffer thinking so planning fits available energy and time. | For decisions with follow-on paths and dependencies, a linear comparison is often not enough. A Decision Tree shows how options branch under conditions and which consequences hang on each branch. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 10-20 min daily | 30-90 min | 30-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 4-12 | 1 | 1-6 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Perspective Notes, Decision Inputs, Action Items | Daily Plan, Time Estimates, Review Notes | Decision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries |
Tagsno overlap | FacilitationOptionsDecision | PlanningTime managementProductivityOperations | DecisionTreeOptions | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions |