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| Criterion | ![]() Operations Fishbone Diagram | ![]() Engineering Hypothesis-Driven Troubleshooting | ![]() Operations Kepner-Tregoe |
|---|---|---|---|
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 systems fail unexpectedly, spontaneous attempts often produce more noise than insight. Hypothesis-driven Troubleshooting translates symptoms into testable assumptions and makes troubleshooting learnable. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 30-60 min | 30-240 min | 2-8 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 1-6 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Hypothesis Log, Test Plan, Evidence Notes, Diagnosis Summary | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeQualityOperations | TroubleshootingProblem solvingDiagnosis | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations |
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