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| Criterion | ![]() Operations After-Action Review | ![]() Operations Root Cause Analysis | ![]() Operations Fishbone Diagram |
|---|---|---|---|
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. | 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 | 20-45 min | 1-4 h | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-12 | 3-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Lessons learned, Action items, Event summary | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog |
Tagsno overlap | LearningOperationsImprovement | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | Root causeQualityOperations |
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