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| Criterion |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Architecture Request for Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When an initiative stalls, the limit often lies not in the idea but in hard or soft boundary conditions. Constraint Analysis separates these limits and shows which of them can actually be shaped. | An ADR permanently records an architecture decision with context, trade-offs, and consequence. It creates continuity for later changes because the decision path stays traceable. | 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. | An RFC clarifies architecture context, options, and consequences. It structures technical context, alternatives, tradeoffs, open questions, and review feedback, and captures the result as an RFC document, reviewer comments, and a decision rationale. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-90 min | 15-45 min | 1-4 h | 1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 1-3 | 3-8 | 3-20 Reviewer |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop + async | Async |
Outputdifferent | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | RFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or tickets |
Tagsno overlap | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance |