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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Evaporating Cloud |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Operations Kepner-Tregoe |  Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | The method makes visible why two seemingly incompatible demands arise and which assumption must be tested to resolve the conflict. | 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. | For a disturbance that's hard to pin down, the method cleanly separates problem, cause, and decision. It reduces mixing when symptoms allow several interpretations. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | High | High |
Timedifferent | 60-120 min | 45-90 min | 2-8 h | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 2-8 | 2-8 | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Conflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next Experiments | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions |
Tagsno overlap | Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause |