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| Criterion |  Operations PDCA Cycle |  Agile Start Stop Continue |  Agile 4Ls Retrospective |  Agile Starfish Retrospective |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | When a team wants to deliberately adjust its working behavior, it makes habits visible and assessable. It focuses on concrete changes instead of diffuse mood. | When a sprint should not only be assessed but also learned from, it captures experience in clear learning categories. It records what worked, what's missing, and what should run differently next time. | When improvement options need to be sorted more finely than just start and stop, it brings observations into clear kinds of action. This makes visible what should be done more, less, newly, or continued. |
Complexitysame | Low | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 1 h bis mehrere Wochen | 30-60 min | 45–75 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-8 | 3-12 | Team members involved | 4-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | PDCA Log, Experiment Plan, Learning Outcome, Standard Change | Start Stop Continue Board, Improvement Actions | 4Ls Board, Learning Themes, Improvement Actions | Starfish Board, Practice Changes, Experiments |
Tagsno overlap | Continuous improvementLeanExperiments | RetrospectiveImprovementTeamReflection | RetrospectiveLearningReflectionTeam | RetrospectiveImprovementExperimentsTeam |