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| Criterion |  Operations 5 Whys |  Engineering Fault Isolation |  Engineering Hypothesis-Driven Troubleshooting |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | When systems fail unexpectedly, spontaneous attempts often produce more noise than insight. Hypothesis-driven Troubleshooting translates symptoms into testable assumptions and makes troubleshooting learnable. | When a problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 15-30 min | 30-180 min | 30-240 min | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-6 | 1-6 | 1-6 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Fault Isolation Map, Test Log, Excluded Hypotheses, Narrowed Fault Area | Hypothesis Log, Test Plan, Evidence Notes, Diagnosis Summary | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | TroubleshootingDiagnosisEngineering | TroubleshootingProblem solvingDiagnosis | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |