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Criterion
A hypothetical failure makes concrete risks, signals, and fitting mitigations visible.
Decision Making
Pre-Mortem
Paper fishbone diagram with a measurable effect at the head and six labeled cause branches.
Operations
Fishbone Diagram
Paper illustration of an assumption matrix with prioritized test cards
Decision Making
Assumption Surfacing
Paper illustration for 8D Problem Solving.
Operations
8D Problem Solving
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 a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers.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.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.
Complexitydifferent
LowLowLowHigh
Timedifferent
20–45 min30-60 min45-90 min1-6 Wochen
Participantsdifferent
Small cross-functional group2-82-84-10
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption logFishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation BacklogAssumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan8D Report, Containment Plan, Root Cause Evidence, Corrective Action Plan
Tagsno overlap
RiskDecisionFailurePlanning
Root causeQualityOperations
AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery
QualityProblem solvingRoot cause
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