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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Rich Picture |  Operations 5 Whys |  Operations Barrier Analysis |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | A Rich Picture brings an unclear situation onto a shared drawing. It captures actors, tensions, information flows, and blind spots before the team jumps to solutions too early. | 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 risk that can only be managed through multiple layers of protection, the method examines the effectiveness of each barrier. It shows where safeguards are missing, too weak, or fail under real conditions. | 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 | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-90 min | 15-30 min | 2-4 h | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-10 | 2-6 | 2-6 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Rich Picture, Problem Framing Notes | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | Systems thinkingSoft systemsFramingVisualization | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | Root causeSafetyIncident | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |