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| Criterion | ![]() Facilitation Six Thinking Hats | ![]() Systems Thinking CATWOE Analysis | ![]() Systems Thinking Current Reality Tree | ![]() Facilitation Alignment Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | 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. | 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. | When several people work toward one goal but hold different mental maps, Alignment Mapping makes the discrepancies visible. It arranges goals, assumptions, and priorities so shared direction becomes verifiable. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | High | Medium |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 45-90 min | 2-6 h | 1-2 h |
Participantsdifferent | 4-12 | 3-8 | 3-8 | 4-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Perspective Notes, Decision Inputs, Action Items | CATWOE Canvas, Root Definition, Stakeholder Perspectives, Constraints | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas | Alignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions |
Tagsno overlap | FacilitationOptionsDecision | Systems thinkingFramingStakeholders | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality | AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation |



