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| Criterion | ![]() Operations 5 Whys | ![]() Engineering Fault Isolation |
|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. | In technical failures, the visible symptom often gets mixed up with the actual cause. Fault Isolation narrows the fault space and progressively reduces which part of the system is truly affected. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 15-30 min | 30-180 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-6 | 1-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Fault Isolation Map, Test Log, Excluded Hypotheses, Narrowed Fault Area |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | TroubleshootingDiagnosisEngineering |
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.





