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Criterion
Value Stream Mapping workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Delivery
Value Stream Mapping
Paper illustration of a decision table with criteria rows, weighted ratings, and a narrowly leading alternative.
Decision Making
Decision Matrix
Paper illustration for Trade-off Analysis.
Decision Making
Trade-off Analysis
Decision Tree method illustration showing its working structure
Decision Making
Decision 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.When several options collide with several criteria, comparison quickly becomes subjective. A Decision Matrix makes the trade-off visible and brings weighting, criteria, and options into a shared logic.With limited resources, quality, speed, cost, and risk almost always compete with each other. Trade-off Analysis makes these tensions explicit and prevents decisions from producing hidden side effects.For decisions with follow-on paths and dependencies, a linear comparison is often not enough. A Decision Tree shows how options branch under conditions and which consequences hang on each branch.
Complexitysame
MediumMediumMediumMedium
Timedifferent
1-3 h45-90 min45-120 min30-90 min
Participantsdifferent
4-102-82-81-6
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck listDecision Matrix, Scoring Rationale, Selected OptionTrade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted DownsidesDecision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List
Tagsno overlap
LeanFlowWasteDelivery
DecisionCriteriaScoringTradeoffs
TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions
DecisionTreeOptions
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