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| Criterion |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |  Operations Kepner-Tregoe |  Innovation TRIZ |  Operations Root Cause 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. | 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. | For technical contradictions or trade-offs, the method looks for solutions that resolve opposing requirements at the same time. It translates limits into an explicit picture of conflict that becomes workable. This produces not just compromises but more elegant principles. | When a problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | High | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-60 min | 2-8 h | 1-4 h | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 2-8 | 2-8 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan | Contradiction Statement, Inventive Principles, Solution Concepts | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeQualityOperations | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations | InnovationProblem solvingContradictionsCreativity | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |