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Selected:Fishbone DiagramAssumption SurfacingRiskiest Assumption TestFailure Mode and Effects Analysis
| Criterion |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Product Discovery Riskiest Assumption Test |  Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | When an idea hinges on one critical unknown, it prioritizes testing that exact piece of uncertainty first. It separates problem, assumption, solution, and evidence. The result is captured as a prioritized list of assumptions, a test plan, and a result report. | For a process, product, or service with noticeable failure risks, the method assesses possible failure modes in advance. It directs attention to combinations of occurrence, effect, and detectability. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 30-60 min | 45-90 min | 1-2 Wochen pro Iteration | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 2-8 | 2-6 | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Prioritized Assumption List, Test Plan, Results Report | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeQualityOperations | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | ExperimentsValidationDiscoveryAssumptions | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause |