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| Criterion |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  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. | For a process, product, or service with noticeable failure risks, the method assesses possible failure modes in advance. It directs attention to combinations of occurrence, effect, and detectability. | 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 | Low | High | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 20–45 min | 2-6 h | 45-90 min | 1-6 Wochen |
Participantsdifferent | Small cross-functional group | 3-10 | 2-8 | 4-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | 8D Report, Containment Plan, Root Cause Evidence, Corrective Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | QualityProblem solvingRoot cause |