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| Criterion |  Innovation Starbursting |  Facilitation World Café |  Innovation Lotus Blossom |  Facilitation Fishbowl Discussion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | Helps clarify ideas, open questions, and testable next steps in concrete terms. It opens the thinking space, collects ideas, and leads to testable options. The result is captured as a star-shaped question map, question list, and assumption list. | When a group needs to connect many viewpoints in a short time, World Café creates a calm alternation between closeness and rotation. It sets thinking in motion without forcing the conversation into full-plenary rigidity. | When a central question feels too large, the method breaks it into neighboring topic fields with their own depth of ideation. It holds structure and openness at the same time, so adjacent perspectives don't get lost. This grows an idea space out of a core problem. | When a controversial topic needs depth and discipline at the same time, Fishbowl Discussion makes the structure of the conversation transparent. The format keeps the core small enough for real dialogue and open enough for controlled turnover. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-60 min | 60-180 min | 45-90 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 12-100+ | 3-10 | 8-80 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Star-Shaped Question Map, Question List, Assumption List | Table Notes, Emergent Themes, Shared Questions | Lotus Diagram, Idea Themes, Shortlist | Discussion Insights, Observed Tensions, Follow-up Questions |
Tagsno overlap | BrainstormingIdeationWorkshopDiscovery | FacilitationDialogueLarge groupSensemaking | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityDivergenceWorkshop | FacilitationDialogueLarge group |