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| Criterion |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Operations ALPEN Method |  Systems Thinking Current Reality Tree |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 an initiative stalls, the limit often lies not in the idea but in hard or soft boundary conditions. Constraint Analysis separates these limits and shows which of them can actually be shaped. | With an overloaded day full of too many tasks, a realistic picture of the day emerges. The method connects estimating, deciding, and buffer thinking so planning fits available energy and time. | A Current Reality Tree condenses many symptoms into a few causal chains. The method makes visible which core problems drive several negative effects at once. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 30-60 min | 30-90 min | 10-20 min daily | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 2-8 | 1 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Daily Plan, Time Estimates, Review Notes | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeQualityOperations | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | PlanningTime managementProductivityOperations | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality |