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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Systems Mapping |  Systems Thinking Future Reality Tree |  Decision Making Trade-off Analysis |  Decision Making Decision 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. | A Future Reality Tree shows how desired actions are meant to lead to a better system state. The method checks whether a path of change holds together logically before time flows into implementation. | 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. | For decisions with follow-on paths and dependencies, a linear comparison is often not enough. A Decision Tree shows how options branch under conditions and which consequences hang on each branch. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 2-4 h | 45-120 min | 30-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-12 | 3-8 | 2-8 | 1-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | System Map, Dependencies, Leverage Points | Future Reality Tree, Negative Branches, Assumption List, Improved Injections | Trade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted Downsides | Decision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List |
Tagsno overlap | Systems thinkingMappingBoundariesChange | Theory of ConstraintsSystems thinkingChange | TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions | DecisionTreeOptions |