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| Criterion |  Facilitation Six Thinking Hats |  Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis |  Operations Kepner-Tregoe |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | For a process, product, or service with noticeable failure risks, the method assesses possible failure modes in advance. It directs attention to combinations of occurrence, effect, and detectability. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 2-6 h | 2-8 h | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 4-12 | 3-10 | 2-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Perspective Notes, Decision Inputs, Action Items | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions | Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog |
Tagsno overlap | FacilitationOptionsDecision | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause | Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations | Root causeQualityOperations |