View methods side by side.
Choose up to four methods. Add them using the search and share the comparison by copying its link.
| Criterion |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Decision Making Risk Matrix |  Decision Making Decision Tree |  Engineering Failure Scenario 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. | When a project faces many possible disruptions, it quickly becomes unclear which risks deserve attention first. It separates options, evaluation criteria, and open risks. The result is captured as a Risk Matrix and a Top Risk List. | For decisions with follow-on paths and dependencies, a linear comparison is often not enough. A Decision Tree shows how options branch under conditions and which consequences hang on each branch. | In critical processes, it is not enough to plan only for the normal case. Failure Scenario Analysis looks at the path into failure and shows which failures, chains, and control gaps cause the most damage. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 20–45 min | 30-60 min | 30-90 min | 1-3 h |
Participantsdifferent | Small cross-functional group | 3-10 | 1-6 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | Risk Matrix, Top Risk List | Decision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List | Failure Scenarios, Risk Notes, Control Gaps, Test and Response Actions |
Tagsno overlap | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | RiskDecisionPrioritizationAssessment | DecisionTreeOptions | FailureResilienceRisk |