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| Criterion |  Operations 5 Whys |  Agile WSJF |  Delivery Value Stream Mapping |  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. | When many tasks compete for the same capacity, it orders work by economic impact. It makes time lost, benefit, and effort comparable together. | When delivery work dissolves into wait times, handoffs, and hidden effort, Value Stream Mapping makes the actual flow visible. The method exposes bottlenecks, idle time, and feedback loops so lead time and improvement levers become tangible. | 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 | High | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 15-30 min | 45-90 min | 1-3 h | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-6 | 3-10 | 4-10 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Ranked Backlog, Cost-of-Delay Assumptions | Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck list | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | LeanEconomicsSequencePrioritization | LeanFlowWasteDelivery | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |