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| Criterion |  Decision Making Risk Matrix |  Systems Thinking Current Reality Tree |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | A Current Reality Tree condenses many symptoms into a few causal chains. The method makes visible which core problems drive several negative effects at once. | 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 an event with a complicated course, the method breaks down the contributing factors along the timeline. It shows how conditions, decisions, and reactions together produce a course of events. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 30-60 min | 2-6 h | 1-4 h | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 3-8 | 3-8 | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Risk Matrix, Top Risk List | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions |
Tagsno overlap | RiskDecisionPrioritizationAssessment | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline |