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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Evaporating Cloud |  Operations Root Cause Tree Analysis |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | The method makes visible why two seemingly incompatible demands arise and which assumption must be tested to resolve the conflict. | For a problem with several suspected causes, the method builds a causal structure instead of a mere list. It makes visible how causes connect and where the strongest points of leverage lie. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 60-120 min | 1-3 h | 45-90 min | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 2-8 | 2-8 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Conflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next Experiments | Cause Tree, Evidence Notes, Countermeasures | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking | Root causeTreeIncidentQuality | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |