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| Criterion |  Engineering Fault Isolation |  Systems Thinking Systems Mapping |  Systems Thinking Future Reality Tree |  Engineering Hypothesis-Driven Troubleshooting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | Systems Mapping arranges elements, relationships, and boundaries so a complex field becomes legible at a glance. The overview stabilizes the overall picture before detail work or steering begins. | A Future Reality Tree shows how desired actions are meant to lead to a better system state. The method checks whether a path of change holds together logically before time flows into implementation. | When systems fail unexpectedly, spontaneous attempts often produce more noise than insight. Hypothesis-driven Troubleshooting translates symptoms into testable assumptions and makes troubleshooting learnable. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | High | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-180 min | 1-3 h | 2-4 h | 30-240 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-6 | 3-12 | 3-8 | 1-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Fault Isolation Map, Test Log, Excluded Hypotheses, Narrowed Fault Area | System Map, Dependencies, Leverage Points | Future Reality Tree, Negative Branches, Assumption List, Improved Injections | Hypothesis Log, Test Plan, Evidence Notes, Diagnosis Summary |
Tagsno overlap | TroubleshootingDiagnosisEngineering | Systems thinkingMappingBoundariesChange | Theory of ConstraintsSystems thinkingChange | TroubleshootingProblem solvingDiagnosis |