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| Criterion |  Engineering Hypothesis-Driven Troubleshooting |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Operations 8D Problem Solving |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When systems fail unexpectedly, spontaneous attempts often produce more noise than insight. Hypothesis-driven Troubleshooting translates symptoms into testable assumptions and makes troubleshooting learnable. | Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it. | For an acute quality or delivery problem, the method structures immediate protection and root cause work together. It keeps the situation stable while the actual cause is investigated cleanly. | For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 30-240 min | 45-90 min | 1-6 Wochen | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-6 | 2-8 | 4-10 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Hypothesis Log, Test Plan, Evidence Notes, Diagnosis Summary | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | 8D Report, Containment Plan, Root Cause Evidence, Corrective Action Plan | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | TroubleshootingProblem solvingDiagnosis | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | QualityProblem solvingRoot cause | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |