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| Criterion |  Engineering Fault Isolation |  Operations 5 Whys |  Team Design Spotify Model Mapping |  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. | When a team landscape has grown without clear grouping, it maps roles and relationships onto the Spotify model. It clarifies responsibility, interaction, and load between teams. The result is captured as a Spotify model map and action 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 | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-180 min | 15-30 min | 90-180 min | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 1-6 | 2-6 | 5-15 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Fault Isolation Map, Test Log, Excluded Hypotheses, Narrowed Fault Area | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Spotify Model Map, Action List | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | TroubleshootingDiagnosisEngineering | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | TeamOrganizationAlignmentDiagnosis | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |