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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Systems Mapping |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Systems Thinking Evaporating Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | In early initiatives with many uncertainties, planning quickly turns too optimistic. A pre-mortem makes the expected failure visible in advance and sharpens the view of causes, gaps, and countermeasures. | 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. | The method makes visible why two seemingly incompatible demands arise and which assumption must be tested to resolve the conflict. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 20–45 min | 45-90 min | 60-120 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-12 | Small cross-functional group | 2-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | System Map, Dependencies, Leverage Points | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Conflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next Experiments |
Tagsno overlap | Systems thinkingMappingBoundariesChange | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking |