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| Criterion |  Operations Root Cause Tree Analysis |  Engineering Fault Isolation |  Engineering Hypothesis-Driven Troubleshooting |  Operations Barrier Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | In technical failures, the visible symptom often gets mixed up with the actual cause. Fault Isolation narrows the fault space and progressively reduces which part of the system is truly affected. | When systems fail unexpectedly, spontaneous attempts often produce more noise than insight. Hypothesis-driven Troubleshooting translates symptoms into testable assumptions and makes troubleshooting learnable. | 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. |
Complexitysame | Medium | Medium | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 30-180 min | 30-240 min | 2-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 1-6 | 1-6 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Cause Tree, Evidence Notes, Countermeasures | Fault Isolation Map, Test Log, Excluded Hypotheses, Narrowed Fault Area | Hypothesis Log, Test Plan, Evidence Notes, Diagnosis Summary | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeTreeIncidentQuality | TroubleshootingDiagnosisEngineering | TroubleshootingProblem solvingDiagnosis | Root causeSafetyIncident |