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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Rich Picture |  Operations Kepner-Tregoe |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 disturbance that's hard to pin down, the method cleanly separates problem, cause, and decision. It reduces mixing when symptoms allow several interpretations. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 30-90 min | 2-8 h | 1-4 h | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-10 | 2-8 | 3-8 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Rich Picture, Problem Framing Notes | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | Systems thinkingSoft systemsFramingVisualization | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |