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| Criterion |  Decision Making Option Framing |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |  Operations Barrier Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | In early decisions, alternatives are often still vague, incomplete, or blended together. Option Framing brings every possibility into a comparable form and makes visible which variant actually fits the question. | 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. | For an event with a complicated course, the method breaks down the contributing factors along the timeline. It shows how conditions, decisions, and reactions together produce a course of events. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | High | Medium |
Timedifferent | 45-120 min | 30-90 min | 2-6 h | 2-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 2-8 | 3-10 | 2-6 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Option Frames, Assumption Notes, Comparable Shortlist, Decision Inputs | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog |
Tagsno overlap | OptionsDecision framingStrategyComparison | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline | Root causeSafetyIncident |