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| Criterion |  Operations After-Action Review |  Delivery Cost of Delay |  Operations 5 Whys |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | After missions or project phases with unclear outcomes, the method makes visible what actually happened and what can be learned from it. It separates course, effect, and causes so experience turns into solid improvement. | Helps clarify scope, order, and delivery flow in concrete terms. It makes work, constraints, and sequence manageable. The result is captured as a Cost of Delay table and prioritization sequence. | 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 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 | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 20-45 min | 90-180 min | 15-30 min | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-12 | 3-8 | 2-6 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Lessons learned, Action items, Event summary | CoD Table, Prioritization Sequence | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | LearningOperationsImprovement | PrioritizationDeliveryEconomicsDecision | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |