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| Criterion | ![]() Operations Causal Factor Analysis | ![]() Systems Thinking Current Reality Tree | ![]() Agile Sailboat Retrospective | ![]() Agile 4Ls Retrospective |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | 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. | When a team wants to read momentum, brakes, and risks together, it offers an easily understandable picture of the situation. It makes drive, obstacles, and headwind visible in the same picture. | When a sprint should not only be assessed but also learned from, it captures experience in clear learning categories. It records what worked, what's missing, and what should run differently next time. |
Complexitydifferent | High | High | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 2-6 h | 2-6 h | 45-90 min | 45–75 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 3-8 | 4-12 | Team members involved |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas | Sailboat Board, Risks, Improvement Actions | 4Ls Board, Learning Themes, Improvement Actions |
Tagsno overlap | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality | RetrospectiveTeamImprovement | RetrospectiveLearningReflectionTeam |



