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| Criterion |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Operations Gemba Walk |  Operations A3 Problem Solving |  Operations Kepner-Tregoe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | When there is uncertainty about the real course of a process, the method brings observation to the place where work happens. It combines perception, follow-up questions, and process knowledge so decisions rest on actual workflows instead of assumptions. | 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. | For a disturbance that's hard to pin down, the method cleanly separates problem, cause, and decision. It reduces mixing when symptoms allow several interpretations. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 30-120 min | 45-90 min | 2-8 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 2-6 | 2-5 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Observation Notes, Improvement Ideas | A3 Report, Action Plan, Root Cause Analysis | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan |
Tagsno overlap | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | LeanObservationProcessOperations | LeanProblem solvingCoachingOperations | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations |