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| Criterion |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |
|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | An ADR permanently records an architecture decision with context, trade-offs, and consequence. It creates continuity for later changes because the decision path stays traceable. | 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 | Low |
Timedifferent | 15-45 min | 1-4 h | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-3 | 3-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | Root causeQualityOperations |
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