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| Criterion |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Operations 5 Whys |  Operations Kepner-Tregoe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | 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 a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 20–45 min | 30-90 min | 15-30 min | 2-8 h |
Participantsdifferent | Small cross-functional group | 2-8 | 2-6 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan |
Tagsno overlap | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations |