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| Criterion |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis |  Operations A3 Problem Solving |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 process, product, or service with noticeable failure risks, the method assesses possible failure modes in advance. It directs attention to combinations of occurrence, effect, and detectability. | 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. | 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 | High | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 2-6 h | 45-90 min | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 3-10 | 2-5 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions | A3 Report, Action Plan, Root Cause Analysis | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog |
Tagsno overlap | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause | LeanProblem solvingCoachingOperations | Root causeQualityOperations |