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| Criterion |  Facilitation Alignment Mapping |  Operations Root Cause Tree Analysis |  Business Strategy McKinsey 7S |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When several people work toward one goal but hold different mental maps, Alignment Mapping makes the discrepancies visible. It arranges goals, assumptions, and priorities so shared direction becomes verifiable. | For a problem with several suspected causes, the method builds a causal structure instead of a mere list. It makes visible how causes connect and where the strongest points of leverage lie. | McKinsey 7S checks whether Strategy, Structure, Systems, Shared Values, Skills, Style, and Staff fit together. Organizational misalignments become visible across multiple levers as a result. | 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. |
Complexitysame | Medium | Medium | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-2 h | 1-3 h | 2-4 h | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 4-12 | 2-8 | 3-12 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Alignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions | Cause Tree, Evidence Notes, Countermeasures | 7S Assessment, Alignment Gaps, Change Actions | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation | Root causeTreeIncidentQuality | OrganizationStrategyAlignmentChange | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |