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| Criterion |  Product Strategy Lean Canvas |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |  Business Strategy Value Chain Analysis |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When an early product bet still has too many open points, it brings target group, problem, and assumptions into a single view. It condenses the idea so core risks become nameable. | When a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers. | Value Chain Analysis shows where value is created, costs accrue, and differentiation becomes possible along the process. It compares strengths, risks, market logic, and courses of action. The result is captured as a value-chain map and lever list. | 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 | 45-90 min | 30-60 min | Half day | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-6 | 2-8 | 3-8 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Lean Canvas, Core Assumptions, Experiment Backlog | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Value Chain Map, Lever List | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | StartupLeanAssumptionsBusiness model | Root causeQualityOperations | StrategyBusiness modelDiagnosisAnalysis | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |