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| Criterion |  Engineering Hypothesis-Driven Troubleshooting |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Decision Making Force Field Analysis |  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. | 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. | In change initiatives, supporting and restraining forces sit at the table at the same time. Force Field Analysis makes these tensions explicit and shows where change can be pushed forward by strengthening or relieving. | 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 | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 30-240 min | 1-4 h | 45-90 min | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-6 | 3-8 | 3-12 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Hypothesis Log, Test Plan, Evidence Notes, Diagnosis Summary | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Force Field Map, Change Levers, Risk Notes | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | TroubleshootingProblem solvingDiagnosis | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | ChangeDecisionStrategy | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |