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| Criterion |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Product Discovery Outcome-Driven Innovation |  Operations 5 Whys |  Operations A3 Problem Solving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | Outcome-Driven Innovation clarifies customer problems, solution opportunities, and evidence. It separates jobs, desired outcomes, importance, satisfaction, and opportunity, and captures results as desired outcome statements, an opportunity landscape, and segments by underserved needs. | 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. | For a complex deviation with several people involved, the method bundles problem, analysis, and decision onto one page. It creates a shared working space where causes, countermeasures, and follow-up fit together. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-4 h | Mehrere Wochen | 15-30 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 2-6 researchers plus sample | 2-6 | 2-5 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Desired outcome statements, Opportunity landscape, Segmentation by underserved needs, Innovation hypotheses | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | A3 Report, Action Plan, Root Cause Analysis |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | OutcomesInnovationResearchQuantitative | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | LeanProblem solvingCoachingOperations |