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| Criterion |  Operations Barrier Analysis |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Decision Making Decision Tree |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For a risk that can only be managed through multiple layers of protection, the method examines the effectiveness of each barrier. It shows where safeguards are missing, too weak, or fail under real conditions. | When an initiative stalls, the limit often lies not in the idea but in hard or soft boundary conditions. Constraint Analysis separates these limits and shows which of them can actually be shaped. | For decisions with follow-on paths and dependencies, a linear comparison is often not enough. A Decision Tree shows how options branch under conditions and which consequences hang on each branch. | 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 | Medium | Low | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 2-4 h | 30-90 min | 30-90 min | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-6 | 2-8 | 1-6 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Decision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeSafetyIncident | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | DecisionTreeOptions | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |