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| Criterion |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Operations After-Action Review |  Operations 8D Problem Solving |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | In early initiatives with many uncertainties, planning quickly turns too optimistic. A pre-mortem makes the expected failure visible in advance and sharpens the view of causes, gaps, and countermeasures. | After missions or project phases with unclear outcomes, the method makes visible what actually happened and what can be learned from it. It separates course, effect, and causes so experience turns into solid improvement. | For an acute quality or delivery problem, the method structures immediate protection and root cause work together. It keeps the situation stable while the actual cause is investigated cleanly. | 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 | Low | High | Medium |
Timedifferent | 20–45 min | 20-45 min | 1-6 Wochen | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | Small cross-functional group | 3-12 | 4-10 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | Lessons learned, Action items, Event summary | 8D Report, Containment Plan, Root Cause Evidence, Corrective Action Plan | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | LearningOperationsImprovement | QualityProblem solvingRoot cause | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |