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| Criterion |  Engineering Hypothesis-Driven Troubleshooting |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Innovation TRIZ |  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. | For technical contradictions or trade-offs, the method looks for solutions that resolve opposing requirements at the same time. It translates limits into an explicit picture of conflict that becomes workable. This produces not just compromises but more elegant principles. | 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 | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 30-240 min | 1-4 h | 1-4 h | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-6 | 3-8 | 2-8 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Hypothesis Log, Test Plan, Evidence Notes, Diagnosis Summary | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Contradiction Statement, Inventive Principles, Solution Concepts | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tags1 shared | TroubleshootingProblem solvingDiagnosis | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | InnovationProblem solvingContradictionsCreativity | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |