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| Criterion |  Operations Kepner-Tregoe |  Agile Starfish Retrospective |  Operations 5 Whys |  Operations A3 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 improvement options need to be sorted more finely than just start and stop, it brings observations into clear kinds of action. This makes visible what should be done more, less, newly, or continued. | 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. | For a complex deviation with several people involved, the method bundles problem, analysis, and decision onto one page. It creates a shared working space where causes, countermeasures, and follow-up fit together. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Low | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 2-8 h | 45-90 min | 15-30 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 4-12 | 2-6 | 2-5 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan | Starfish Board, Practice Changes, Experiments | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | A3 Report, Action Plan, Root Cause Analysis |
Tagsno overlap | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations | RetrospectiveImprovementExperimentsTeam | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | LeanProblem solvingCoachingOperations |