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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Systems Mapping |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Decision Making Trade-off Analysis |  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. | With limited resources, quality, speed, cost, and risk almost always compete with each other. Trade-off Analysis makes these tensions explicit and prevents decisions from producing hidden side effects. | 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 | 45-120 min | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-12 | 2-8 | 2-8 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | System Map, Dependencies, Leverage Points | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Trade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted Downsides | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas |
Tagsno overlap | Systems thinkingMappingBoundariesChange | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality |