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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Evaporating Cloud |  Systems Thinking Current Reality Tree |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | The method makes visible why two seemingly incompatible demands arise and which assumption must be tested to resolve the conflict. | 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 problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 60-120 min | 2-6 h | 1-4 h | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 3-8 | 3-8 | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Conflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next Experiments | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions |
Tagsno overlap | Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline |