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| Criterion |  Facilitation Six Thinking Hats |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Operations Kepner-Tregoe |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a topic gets stuck too quickly in the same thinking mode, Six Thinking Hats deliberately separates the perspectives. This means facts, risks, creativity, and emotional signals get worked through one after another instead of mixed together. | When an initiative stalls, the limit often lies not in the idea but in hard or soft boundary conditions. Constraint Analysis separates these limits and shows which of them can actually be shaped. | For a disturbance that's hard to pin down, the method cleanly separates problem, cause, and decision. It reduces mixing when symptoms allow several interpretations. | 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 | 45-90 min | 30-90 min | 2-8 h | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 4-12 | 2-8 | 2-8 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Perspective Notes, Decision Inputs, Action Items | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | FacilitationOptionsDecision | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |