View methods side by side.
Choose up to four methods. Add them using the search and share the comparison by copying its link.
| Criterion |  Engineering Fault Isolation |  Operations 5 Whys |  Business Strategy 5-Minuten VC-Check |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | In technical failures, the visible symptom often gets mixed up with the actual cause. Fault Isolation narrows the fault space and progressively reduces which part of the system is truly affected. | For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. | The 5-Minute VC Check clarifies opportunities and strategic options at the earliest idea stage. It compares problem quality, customer willingness to pay, alternatives, differentiation, and market potential, and captures the result as a VC-check note, go/sharpen/park decision, and risk list. | 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 | Low | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-180 min | 15-30 min | 5-15 min | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 1-6 | 2-6 | 1-5 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Fault Isolation Map, Test Log, Excluded Hypotheses, Narrowed Fault Area | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | VC-check note, Go/sharpen/park decision, Risk and assumption list, Next validation step | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | TroubleshootingDiagnosisEngineering | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | StartupValidationCompetition | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |