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| Criterion | ![]() Product Strategy Lean Canvas | ![]() Operations Kepner-Tregoe | ![]() Operations 5 Whys | ![]() Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | 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. | 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. | Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 2-8 h | 15-30 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-6 | 2-8 | 2-6 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Lean Canvas, Core Assumptions, Experiment Backlog | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan |
Tagsno overlap | StartupLeanAssumptionsBusiness model | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery |



