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| Criterion |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Innovation Reverse Brainstorming |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |  Innovation Brainstorming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 persistent errors or blockages, the method shifts the view to the opposite of the desired effect. It exposes the mechanics of failure and makes hidden causes easier to grasp. This makes improvement more concrete and the problem clearer. | When a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-4 h | 30-60 min | 30-60 min | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 3-12 | 2-8 | 4-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Reverse Ideas, Risk Themes, Solution Ideas | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Idea pool, Theme clusters, Shortlist |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityRisk | Root causeQualityOperations | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityWorkshopDivergence |