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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Current Reality Tree |  Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | 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. | 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. | When a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers. |
Complexitydifferent | High | High | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 2-6 h | 2-6 h | 20–45 min | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 3-10 | Small cross-functional group | 2-8 |
Formatsame | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog |
Tagsno overlap | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | Root causeQualityOperations |