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| Criterion |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Operations A3 Problem Solving |  DevOps Blameless Postmortem |  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 a complex deviation with several people involved, the method bundles problem, analysis, and decision onto one page. It creates a shared working space where causes, countermeasures, and follow-up fit together. | After an incident with damage or a near miss, the method creates a sober field for learning without assigning blame. It directs attention to the course of events, conditions, and effective 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 | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 45-90 min | 30-90 min | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 2-5 | 3-12 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | A3 Report, Action Plan, Root Cause Analysis | Postmortem Doc, Action Items, Timeline | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | LeanProblem solvingCoachingOperations | Site Reliability EngineeringIncidentLearningReliability | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |