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| Criterion |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Operations Root Cause Tree Analysis |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |  Operations Root Cause 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 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. | 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. | When a problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 1-3 h | 30-60 min | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 2-8 | 2-8 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Cause Tree, Evidence Notes, Countermeasures | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | Root causeTreeIncidentQuality | Root causeQualityOperations | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |