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Criterion
Paper illustration for Soft Systems Methodology.
Systems Thinking
Soft Systems Methodology
Rich Picture workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Systems Thinking
Rich Picture
Paper illustration for Starfish Retrospective
Agile
Starfish Retrospective
Purposedifferent
Soft Systems Methodology helps explore unclear or politically charged problems systematically. Instead of forcing a quick answer, the method builds a shared understanding of perspectives and room for action.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.When improvement options need to be sorted more finely than just start and stop, it brings observations into clear kinds of action. This makes visible what should be done more, less, newly, or continued.
Complexitydifferent
HighLowLow
Timedifferent
0.5-3 Tage30-90 min45-90 min
Participantsdifferent
5-152-104-12
Formatsame
WorkshopWorkshopWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Rich Picture, Root Definitions, Conceptual Models, Change AgendaRich Picture, Problem Framing NotesStarfish Board, Practice Changes, Experiments
Tagsno overlap
Soft systemsComplexitySensemakingSystems thinking
Systems thinkingSoft systemsFramingVisualization
RetrospectiveImprovementExperimentsTeam
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Often compared together

Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration for Sailboat Retrospective
Agile
Sailboat Retrospective
Paper illustration of a team retrospective with three separate Start, Stop, and Continue areas and a shared action list.
Agile
Start Stop Continue
Paper illustration of Team Cognitive Load Assessment with its method-specific working model.
Team Design
Team Cognitive Load Assessment
A structured reflection surfaces what was liked, learned, lacked, and longed for. It is a conversation format and does not validate actions automatically.
Agile
4Ls Retrospective