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| Criterion |  Facilitation Six Thinking Hats |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Operations ALPEN Method |  Operations Kepner-Tregoe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | 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. | 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 a disturbance that's hard to pin down, the method cleanly separates problem, cause, and decision. It reduces mixing when symptoms allow several interpretations. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 30-90 min | 10-20 min daily | 2-8 h |
Participantsdifferent | 4-12 | 2-8 | 1 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Perspective Notes, Decision Inputs, Action Items | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Daily Plan, Time Estimates, Review Notes | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan |
Tagsno overlap | FacilitationOptionsDecision | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | PlanningTime managementProductivityOperations | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations |