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| Criterion |  Operations 5 Whys |  Agile Mad Sad Glad |  Agile Start Stop Continue |  Agile Starfish Retrospective |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | When a team's or workshop's mood needs to become readable, it structures emotional signals with little setup. It makes strain, relief, and sources of energy tangible. | When a team wants to deliberately adjust its working behavior, it makes habits visible and assessable. It focuses on concrete changes instead of diffuse mood. | When improvement options need to be sorted more finely than just start and stop, it brings observations into clear kinds of action. This makes visible what should be done more, less, newly, or continued. |
Complexitysame | Low | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 15-30 min | 30-60 min | 30-60 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-6 | 3-10 | 3-12 | 4-12 |
Formatsame | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Emotion Board, Themes, Action Items | Start Stop Continue Board, Improvement Actions | Starfish Board, Practice Changes, Experiments |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | RetrospectiveTeamReflection | RetrospectiveImprovementTeamReflection | RetrospectiveImprovementExperimentsTeam |