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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Systems Mapping |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Systems Thinking Evaporating Cloud |  Systems Thinking Current Reality Tree |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 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. | The method makes visible why two seemingly incompatible demands arise and which assumption must be tested to resolve the conflict. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 30-90 min | 60-120 min | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-12 | 2-8 | 2-8 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | System Map, Dependencies, Leverage Points | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Conflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next Experiments | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas |
Tagsno overlap | Systems thinkingMappingBoundariesChange | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality |