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| Criterion |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations Barrier Analysis |  Innovation Brainstorming |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 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 team faces an open question with many obvious directions, the method first creates breadth instead of premature commitment. It separates idea flow from evaluation and makes lines of thought visible, creating a pool for selection and further development. | 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 | Medium | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-4 h | 2-4 h | 30-60 min | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 2-6 | 4-12 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog | Idea pool, Theme clusters, Shortlist | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | Root causeSafetyIncident | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityWorkshopDivergence | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |