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| Criterion |  Operations Bottleneck Analysis |  Operations Theory of Constraints |  Operations Learning Review |  Agile Sprint Retrospective |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For a flow that backs up at one point, the method looks for the capacity limit with the greatest leverage. It explains why extra effort elsewhere barely improves throughput. | For a system that does not get faster despite effort, the method directs attention to the bottleneck. It concentrates improvement on the point that actually limits throughput. | After a project phase with mixed results, the method makes learning from the individual case reusable. It connects events, decisions, and systemic conditions into robust insights. | When a sprint is over and friction shouldn't simply be carried forward, it opens the view onto collaboration and patterns. It creates space to see causes and changes together. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 2-4 h Analyse, laufend | 1-3 h | Up to 3 hours for a one-month Sprint; shorter Sprints are usually shorter |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 3-12 | 3-10 | Scrum Team |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Bottleneck Map, Flow Metrics, Improvement Options, Follow-up Measures | Constraint Map, Improvement Plan, Flow Metrics | Learning Review Notes, System Factors, Improvement Actions | Improvement actions, Team agreements |
Tagsno overlap | FlowMeasurementConstraints | OperationsConstraintsFlowImprovement | LearningRetrospectiveIncidentOperations | RetrospectiveImprovementLearning |