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| Criterion |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |  Product Discovery Assumption Mapping |  Operations Kepner-Tregoe |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers. | When assumptions still sit unordered in the room, it weighs uncertainty against leverage. It makes visible which hypotheses should be checked first. | For a disturbance that's hard to pin down, the method cleanly separates problem, cause, and decision. It reduces mixing when symptoms allow several interpretations. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 30-60 min | 45-60 min | 2-8 h | 45-90 min |
Participantssame | 2-8 | 2-8 | 2-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Assumption map, Test backlog, Risk ranking | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeQualityOperations | AssumptionsRiskExperimentsValidation | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery |