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| Criterion |  Delivery Value Stream Mapping |  Systems Thinking Causal Loop Diagram |  Engineering Kanban |  Systems Thinking Current Reality Tree |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | A Causal Loop Diagram makes feedback, reinforcement, and balance in a system legible. It uncovers side effects and self-reinforcement that stay hidden in linear explanations. | When work sits in too many parallel streams, throughput suffers and no one sees the bottlenecks. Kanban makes the flow of work visible and limits overload so a system becomes calmer and more predictable. | A Current Reality Tree condenses many symptoms into a few causal chains. The method makes visible which core problems drive several negative effects at once. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 1-3 h | Ongoing | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 4-10 | 2-8 | 2-12 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck list | Causal Loop Diagram, Feedback Notes, Leverage Points | Kanban board, WIP policies, Flow metrics | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas |
Tagsno overlap | LeanFlowWasteDelivery | FeedbackSystems thinkingCausalityDynamics | FlowVisual managementDelivery | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality |