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| Criterion |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |  Operations Root Cause Tree Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 event with a complicated course, the method breaks down the contributing factors along the timeline. It shows how conditions, decisions, and reactions together produce a course of events. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 2-6 h | 30-60 min | 1-3 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 3-10 | 2-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Cause Tree, Evidence Notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline | Root causeQualityOperations | Root causeTreeIncidentQuality |