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Criterion
Systems Mapping method illustration showing its working structure
Systems Thinking
Systems Mapping
Paper illustration for Evaporating Cloud.
Systems Thinking
Evaporating Cloud
Paper illustration for Trade-off Analysis.
Decision Making
Trade-off Analysis
Paper illustration for Constraint Analysis.
Decision Making
Constraint Analysis
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.The method makes visible why two seemingly incompatible demands arise and which assumption must be tested to resolve the conflict.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.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.
Complexitydifferent
MediumMediumMediumLow
Timedifferent
1-3 h60-120 min45-120 min30-90 min
Participantsdifferent
3-122-82-82-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
System Map, Dependencies, Leverage PointsConflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next ExperimentsTrade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted DownsidesConstraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries
Tagsno overlap
Systems thinkingMappingBoundariesChange
Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking
TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions
ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions
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