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Criterion
Paper fishbone diagram with a measurable effect at the head and six labeled cause branches.
Operations
Fishbone Diagram
Paper illustration of an assumption matrix with prioritized test cards
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.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.
Complexitysame
LowLow
Timedifferent
30-60 min45-90 min
Participantssame
2-82-8
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation BacklogAssumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan
Tagsno overlap
Root causeQualityOperations
AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery
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Often compared together

Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
Operations
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
Paper illustration for Kepner-Tregoe
Operations
Kepner-Tregoe
Paper illustration for 8D Problem Solving.
Operations
8D Problem Solving
Paper illustration of a calm four-quadrant Assumption Map with hypothesis cards and emphasis on important assumptions with little evidence.
Product Discovery
Assumption Mapping