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| Criterion | ![]() Systems Thinking Theory of Constraints Thinking Process | ![]() Decision Making Pre-Mortem | ![]() Decision Making Assumption Surfacing | ![]() Systems Thinking Evaporating Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | The Theory of Constraints Thinking Process exposes a system's bottleneck and the logic behind it. It suits situations where many symptoms trace back to the same limiting relationship. | 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 | High | Low | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 0.5-3 Tage | 20–45 min | 45-90 min | 60-120 min |
Participantsdifferent | 4-10 | Small cross-functional group | 2-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Current Reality Logic, Conflict Cloud, Future Reality Tree, Implementation Obstacles | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Conflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next Experiments |
Tagsno overlap | Theory of ConstraintsConstraintsSystems thinkingCausality | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking |



