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| Criterion |  Operations PDCA Cycle |  Decision Making Decision Tree |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For an improvement that still has to prove itself in everyday work, the method runs it through small learning loops. It connects planning, checking, and standardization into a repeatable learning mode. | For decisions with follow-on paths and dependencies, a linear comparison is often not enough. A Decision Tree shows how options branch under conditions and which consequences hang on each branch. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 1 h bis mehrere Wochen | 30-90 min | 45-90 min | 30-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-8 | 1-6 | 2-8 | 2-8 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | PDCA Log, Experiment Plan, Learning Outcome, Standard Change | Decision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries |
Tagsno overlap | Continuous improvementLeanExperiments | DecisionTreeOptions | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions |