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| Criterion |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Agile Ideal Days |  Operations Root Cause Tree Analysis |  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. | When effort needs to be thought of as real working time, it offers a simple common denominator for comparison. It sorts work by value, risk, and delivery ability. The result is captured as Ideal Day Estimates, Assumption Notes, and Capacity Caveats. | For a problem with several suspected causes, the method builds a causal structure instead of a mere list. It makes visible how causes connect and where the strongest points of leverage lie. | 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 | 15-60 min | 1-3 h | 2-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 2-9 | 2-8 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Ideal Day Estimates, Assumption Notes, Capacity Caveats | Cause Tree, Evidence Notes, Countermeasures | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | EstimationEffortAgile | Root causeTreeIncidentQuality | Root causeSafetyIncident |