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| Criterion |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Innovation Brainstorming |  Innovation TRIZ |  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. | 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 technical contradictions or trade-offs, the method looks for solutions that resolve opposing requirements at the same time. It translates limits into an explicit picture of conflict that becomes workable. This produces not just compromises but more elegant principles. | 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 | Low | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-4 h | 30-60 min | 1-4 h | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 4-12 | 2-8 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Idea pool, Theme clusters, Shortlist | Contradiction Statement, Inventive Principles, Solution Concepts | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityWorkshopDivergence | InnovationProblem solvingContradictionsCreativity | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |