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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Systems Mapping |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Systems Thinking Future Reality Tree |  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. | 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. | 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. | 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 | Medium | Low | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 20–45 min | 2-4 h | 30-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-12 | Small cross-functional group | 3-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | System Map, Dependencies, Leverage Points | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | Future Reality Tree, Negative Branches, Assumption List, Improved Injections | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries |
Tagsno overlap | Systems thinkingMappingBoundariesChange | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | Theory of ConstraintsSystems thinkingChange | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions |