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| Criterion |  Decision Making Decision Tree |  Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For decisions with follow-on paths and dependencies, a linear comparison is often not enough. A Decision Tree shows how options branch under conditions and which consequences hang on each branch. | 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 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 30-90 min | 2-6 h | 30-60 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-6 | 3-10 | 2-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Decision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan |
Tagsno overlap | DecisionTreeOptions | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause | Root causeQualityOperations | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery |