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| Criterion |  Facilitation Mind Mapping |  Operations Barrier Analysis |  Operations Kepner-Tregoe |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a topic is still unclear and too many thoughts surface at once, Mind Mapping creates an open surface for ordering them. It makes connections, subtopics, and starting points visible without fixing them too early. | For a risk that can only be managed through multiple layers of protection, the method examines the effectiveness of each barrier. It shows where safeguards are missing, too weak, or fail under real conditions. | 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 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | High | Medium |
Timedifferent | 15-45 min | 2-4 h | 2-8 h | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 1-10 | 2-6 | 2-8 | 3-8 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Mind Map, Topic Clusters, Open Questions | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | BrainstormingIdeasMappingStructureFacilitation | Root causeSafetyIncident | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |