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| Criterion |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Operations Gemba Walk |  Facilitation Decision Jam |  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. | 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. | When a decision is stuck, Decision Jam loosens the knot through structured separation of problem, idea, and selection. The format creates movement without jumping prematurely at the first seemingly elegant answer. | 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. |
Complexitysame | Low | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 30-120 min | 60-90 min | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 2-6 | 4-10 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Observation Notes, Improvement Ideas | Problem Cluster, Prioritized Challenge, Experiment | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | LeanObservationProcessOperations | FacilitationDecisionProblem solvingWorkshop | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |