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| Criterion | ![]() Facilitation World Café | ![]() Systems Thinking Rich Picture | ![]() Facilitation Alignment Mapping | ![]() Systems Thinking Soft Systems Methodology |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a group needs to connect many viewpoints in a short time, World Café creates a calm alternation between closeness and rotation. It sets thinking in motion without forcing the conversation into full-plenary rigidity. | A Rich Picture brings an unclear situation onto a shared drawing. It captures actors, tensions, information flows, and blind spots before the team jumps to solutions too early. | When several people work toward one goal but hold different mental maps, Alignment Mapping makes the discrepancies visible. It arranges goals, assumptions, and priorities so shared direction becomes verifiable. | Soft Systems Methodology helps explore unclear or politically charged problems systematically. Instead of forcing a quick answer, the method builds a shared understanding of perspectives and room for action. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 60-180 min | 30-90 min | 1-2 h | 0.5-3 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 12-100+ | 2-10 | 4-12 | 5-15 |
Formatsame | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Table Notes, Emergent Themes, Shared Questions | Rich Picture, Problem Framing Notes | Alignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions | Rich Picture, Root Definitions, Conceptual Models, Change Agenda |
Tagsno overlap | FacilitationDialogueLarge groupSensemaking | Systems thinkingSoft systemsFramingVisualization | AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation | Soft systemsComplexitySensemakingSystems thinking |



