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Selected:Causal Factor AnalysisAssumption SurfacingFailure Mode and Effects AnalysisRoot Cause Analysis
| Criterion |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | 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 process, product, or service with noticeable failure risks, the method assesses possible failure modes in advance. It directs attention to combinations of occurrence, effect, and detectability. | 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 | High | Low | High | Medium |
Timedifferent | 2-6 h | 45-90 min | 2-6 h | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 2-8 | 3-10 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |