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| Criterion |  Delivery Value Stream Mapping |  Engineering Kanban |  Systems Thinking Causal Loop Diagram |  Systems Thinking Behavior Over Time Graph |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 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 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. | A Behavior Over Time Graph shows how a metric or observation develops over time. The method makes trends, breaks, and recurring patterns visible that get lost in snapshots. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | Ongoing | 1-3 h | 20-45 min |
Participantsdifferent | 4-10 | 2-12 | 2-8 | 1-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck list | Kanban board, WIP policies, Flow metrics | Causal Loop Diagram, Feedback Notes, Leverage Points | Behavior Over Time Graph, Trend Hypotheses, Key Events |
Tagsno overlap | LeanFlowWasteDelivery | FlowVisual managementDelivery | FeedbackSystems thinkingCausalityDynamics | Systems thinkingPatternsDynamics |