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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Systems Mapping |  Product Discovery Assumption Mapping |  Systems Thinking Current Reality Tree |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | Systems Mapping arranges elements, relationships, and boundaries so a complex field becomes legible at a glance. The overview stabilizes the overall picture before detail work or steering begins. | When assumptions still sit unordered in the room, it weighs uncertainty against leverage. It makes visible which hypotheses should be checked first. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 45-60 min | 2-6 h | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-12 | 2-8 | 3-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | System Map, Dependencies, Leverage Points | Assumption map, Test backlog, Risk ranking | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan |
Tagsno overlap | Systems thinkingMappingBoundariesChange | AssumptionsRiskExperimentsValidation | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery |