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| Criterion |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |  Product Discovery Assumption Mapping |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For an event with a complicated course, the method breaks down the contributing factors along the timeline. It shows how conditions, decisions, and reactions together produce a course of events. | When assumptions still sit unordered in the room, it weighs uncertainty against leverage. It makes visible which hypotheses should be checked first. | In early initiatives with many uncertainties, planning quickly turns too optimistic. A pre-mortem makes the expected failure visible in advance and sharpens the view of causes, gaps, and countermeasures. | 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 | High | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 2-6 h | 45-60 min | 20–45 min | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 2-8 | Small cross-functional group | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions | Assumption map, Test backlog, Risk ranking | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline | AssumptionsRiskExperimentsValidation | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |