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| Criterion |  Product Strategy SMART Goals |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Decision Making DACI |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When goals are formulated too generally, it brings measurability, direction, and timing into shape. It prevents intentions from staying without clear verification. | In early initiatives with many uncertainties, planning quickly turns too optimistic. A pre-mortem makes the expected failure visible in advance and sharpens the view of causes, gaps, and countermeasures. | In cross-functional decisions, responsibilities quickly blur between approval, influence, and execution. DACI arranges these roles so decision pressure, contribution, and information stay cleanly separated. | Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it. |
Complexitysame | Low | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 15-30 min | 20–45 min | 30-60 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-8 | Small cross-functional group | 2-10 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | SMART Goal, Measurement Note, Deadline | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | DACI Matrix, Decision Owner, Decision Log | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan |
Tagsno overlap | GoalsPlanningMeasurementAlignment | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | DecisionRolesGovernanceAlignment | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery |