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| Criterion |  Operations Kepner-Tregoe |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Operations 8D Problem Solving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For a disturbance that's hard to pin down, the method cleanly separates problem, cause, and decision. It reduces mixing when symptoms allow several interpretations. | 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. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Low | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 2-8 h | 30-90 min | 20–45 min | 1-6 Wochen |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 2-8 | Small cross-functional group | 4-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | 8D Report, Containment Plan, Root Cause Evidence, Corrective Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | QualityProblem solvingRoot cause |