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| Criterion |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Innovation TRIZ |  Innovation Contradiction Analysis |  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. | For technical contradictions or trade-offs, the method looks for solutions that resolve opposing requirements at the same time. It translates limits into an explicit picture of conflict that becomes workable. This produces not just compromises but more elegant principles. | When a system should improve while another measure suffers as a result, the method makes the underlying conflict precisely formulable. It separates the desired effect from its side effect. This makes solutions possible that address the contradiction deliberately instead of half-heartedly. | 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 | High | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 1-4 h | 60-120 min | 2-8 h |
Participantssame | 2-8 | 2-8 | 2-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Contradiction Statement, Inventive Principles, Solution Concepts | Contradiction Statement, Abstraction Notes, Solution Principles, Concept Ideas | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan |
Tagsno overlap | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | InnovationProblem solvingContradictionsCreativity | ContradictionsInnovationProblem solving | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations |