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| Criterion |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Operations 8D Problem Solving |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it. | For an acute quality or delivery problem, the method structures immediate protection and root cause work together. It keeps the situation stable while the actual cause is investigated cleanly. | In early initiatives with many uncertainties, planning quickly turns too optimistic. A pre-mortem makes the expected failure visible in advance and sharpens the view of causes, gaps, and countermeasures. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 1-6 Wochen | 20–45 min | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 4-10 | Small cross-functional group | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | 8D Report, Containment Plan, Root Cause Evidence, Corrective Action Plan | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | QualityProblem solvingRoot cause | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |