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| Criterion |  Operations Gemba Walk |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When there is uncertainty about the real course of a process, the method brings observation to the place where work happens. It combines perception, follow-up questions, and process knowledge so decisions rest on actual workflows instead of assumptions. | 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. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 30-120 min | 30-90 min | 2-6 h | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-6 | 2-8 | 3-10 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Observation Notes, Improvement Ideas | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog |
Tagsno overlap | LeanObservationProcessOperations | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause | Root causeQualityOperations |