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| Criterion |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Engineering Hypothesis-Driven Troubleshooting |  Operations 8D Problem Solving |  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 systems fail unexpectedly, spontaneous attempts often produce more noise than insight. Hypothesis-driven Troubleshooting translates symptoms into testable assumptions and makes troubleshooting learnable. | For an acute quality or delivery problem, the method structures immediate protection and root cause work together. It keeps the situation stable while the actual cause is investigated cleanly. | 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 | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 30-240 min | 1-6 Wochen | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 1-6 | 4-10 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Hypothesis Log, Test Plan, Evidence Notes, Diagnosis Summary | 8D Report, Containment Plan, Root Cause Evidence, Corrective Action Plan | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | TroubleshootingProblem solvingDiagnosis | QualityProblem solvingRoot cause | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |