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| Criterion |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations 5 Whys |  Engineering Hypothesis-Driven Troubleshooting |  Operations Barrier Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | When systems fail unexpectedly, spontaneous attempts often produce more noise than insight. Hypothesis-driven Troubleshooting translates symptoms into testable assumptions and makes troubleshooting learnable. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-4 h | 15-30 min | 30-240 min | 2-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 2-6 | 1-6 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Hypothesis Log, Test Plan, Evidence Notes, Diagnosis Summary | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | TroubleshootingProblem solvingDiagnosis | Root causeSafetyIncident |