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| Criterion |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |  Operations Barrier Analysis |  Agile Affinity Estimation |  Systems Thinking Current Reality Tree |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | 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 many tasks need to be classified quickly, it sorts them by perceived effort and similarity. It reduces the effort of fine-grained estimation for large volumes. | A Current Reality Tree condenses many symptoms into a few causal chains. The method makes visible which core problems drive several negative effects at once. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Medium | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 2-6 h | 2-4 h | 30-90 min | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 2-6 | 3-12 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog | Affinity Size Map, Grouped Estimates, Unclear Items | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas |
Tagsno overlap | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline | Root causeSafetyIncident | EstimationBacklogRelative sizing | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality |