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| Criterion |  Delivery Value Stream Mapping |  Operations Bottleneck Analysis |  Product Discovery Assumption Mapping |  Product Strategy Counter Metrics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When delivery work dissolves into wait times, handoffs, and hidden effort, Value Stream Mapping makes the actual flow visible. The method exposes bottlenecks, idle time, and feedback loops so lead time and improvement levers become tangible. | For a flow that backs up at one point, the method looks for the capacity limit with the greatest leverage. It explains why extra effort elsewhere barely improves throughput. | When assumptions still sit unordered in the room, it weighs uncertainty against leverage. It makes visible which hypotheses should be checked first. | When a headline metric could mask side effects, it adds guardrail signals against unwanted outcomes. It connects customer value, product logic, and decision priorities. The result is captured as a counter-metric list and guardrail definitions. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 1-3 h | 45-60 min | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 4-10 | 3-8 | 2-8 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck list | Bottleneck Map, Flow Metrics, Improvement Options, Follow-up Measures | Assumption map, Test backlog, Risk ranking | Counter Metric List, Guardrail Definitions |
Tagsno overlap | LeanFlowWasteDelivery | FlowMeasurementConstraints | AssumptionsRiskExperimentsValidation | MetricsMeasurementStrategyExperiments |