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| Criterion |  Business Strategy TOWS Matrix |  Product Strategy Impact Mapping |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | The TOWS Matrix connects internal strengths and weaknesses with external opportunities and threats into action-oriented strategies. It goes a step further than a pure stocktaking. | When a goal needs to be connected to several possible paths, it shows chains of impact instead of feature lists. It connects business goal, behavior change, and measures. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-2 h | 45-90 min | 45-90 min | 20–45 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 3-8 | 2-8 | Small cross-functional group |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | TOWS Matrix, Strategic Options, Priority Actions | Impact Map, Outcome Hypotheses, Delivery Options | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log |
Tagsno overlap | StrategyAnalysisOptions | OutcomesStrategyBehaviorPlanning | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning |