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| Criterion |  Delivery Value Stream Mapping |  Operations Eat the Frog |  Operations 5 Whys |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When delivery work dissolves into wait times, handoffs, and hidden effort, Value Stream Mapping makes the actual flow visible. The method exposes bottlenecks, idle time, and feedback loops so lead time and improvement levers become tangible. | The method protects energy and attention for the task that creates the largest progress and is often postponed. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 15-90 min daily | 15-30 min | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 4-10 | 1 | 2-6 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck list | Priority Task, Completion Note, Daily Focus | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | LeanFlowWasteDelivery | PrioritizationProductivityFocusExecution | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |