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| Criterion |  Operations Accountability Ladder |  Operations A3 Problem Solving |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | With defensive reactions to problems, the method shifts the view from justification to ownership. It makes visible which reaction stage a person or team is currently stuck on. | For a complex deviation with several people involved, the method bundles problem, analysis, and decision onto one page. It creates a shared working space where causes, countermeasures, and follow-up fit together. | 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. | When a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 20-45 min | 45-90 min | 1-4 h | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-8 | 2-5 | 3-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Ownership Reflection, Action Commitment, Coaching Notes | A3 Report, Action Plan, Root Cause Analysis | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog |
Tagsno overlap | ResponsibilityLeadershipTeam | LeanProblem solvingCoachingOperations | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | Root causeQualityOperations |