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Criterion
Systems Mapping method illustration showing its working structure
Systems Thinking
Systems Mapping
Paper illustration of an IBIS map with issues, positions and arguments
Knowledge Modeling
IBIS
Paper illustration for Knowledge Mapping.
Knowledge Modeling
Knowledge Mapping
Paper illustration of an assumption matrix with prioritized test cards
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.IBIS structures thinking about complex questions as a sequence of issues, ideas, and arguments. The method keeps discussions open without forcing them into premature consensus.Knowledge Mapping makes knowledge, gaps, and transfer paths visible across a field. It fits when expertise should not just exist but also be findable and transferable.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
MediumMediumMediumLow
Timedifferent
1-3 h1-3 h1-3 h45-90 min
Participantsdifferent
3-122-83-122-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
System Map, Dependencies, Leverage PointsIssue Map, Positions, Argument NotesKnowledge Map, Critical Knowledge Areas, Transfer PlanAssumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan
Tagsno overlap
Systems thinkingMappingBoundariesChange
RationaleKnowledgeDecision
KnowledgeMappingRisk
AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery
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