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| Criterion | ![]() Operations 5 Whys | ![]() Agile Starfish Retrospective | ![]() Agile Start Stop Continue |
|---|---|---|---|
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 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. | 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. |
Complexitysame | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 15-30 min | 45-90 min | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-6 | 4-12 | 3-12 |
Formatsame | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Starfish Board, Practice Changes, Experiments | Start Stop Continue Board, Improvement Actions |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | RetrospectiveImprovementExperimentsTeam | RetrospectiveImprovementTeamReflection |
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.






