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| Criterion |  Operations Gemba Walk |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Operations A3 Problem Solving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | In early initiatives with many uncertainties, planning quickly turns too optimistic. A pre-mortem makes the expected failure visible in advance and sharpens the view of causes, gaps, and countermeasures. | 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 complex deviation with several people involved, the method bundles problem, analysis, and decision onto one page. It creates a shared working space where causes, countermeasures, and follow-up fit together. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-120 min | 20–45 min | 30-90 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-6 | Small cross-functional group | 2-8 | 2-5 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Observation Notes, Improvement Ideas | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | A3 Report, Action Plan, Root Cause Analysis |
Tagsno overlap | LeanObservationProcessOperations | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | LeanProblem solvingCoachingOperations |