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| Criterion |  Innovation How Might We |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations Root Cause Tree Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | With a stuck problem carrying many implicit assumptions, the method translates observations into open, workable questions. It sharpens the problem frame without pre-thinking the solution, turning frustration or fuzziness into a search space with clear direction. | 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. | For a problem with several suspected causes, the method builds a causal structure instead of a mere list. It makes visible how causes connect and where the strongest points of leverage lie. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30–45 min | 1-4 h | 1-3 h |
Participantsdifferent | 1-10 | 3-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | HMW Questions, Challenge Framing, Idea Prompts | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Cause Tree, Evidence Notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | FramingOpportunityIdeationQuestions | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | Root causeTreeIncidentQuality |
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.
