Atlas › 24 Technical Writing for QA › Root Cause Analysis☰ Read as one page
Root Cause Analysis
3.1Finding the Real Cause, Not Just the Obvious OneA root cause analysis (RCA) that stops at the first plausible explanation is not an analysis -- it is a guess. The purpose of RCA is not to…3.2RCA FrameworksThe simplest and most widely used RCA technique. Start with the problem and ask "why" repeatedly until you reach a root cause that is…3.3Writing RCA Reports3.4Blameless Post-MortemsThe single most important principle of blameless post-mortems is this: people do not cause incidents; systems allow incidents to happen…3.5Tracking Corrective Actions to CompletionThe most common failure in the RCA process is not the analysis -- it is the follow-through. Teams write thorough RCA reports with excellent…3.6RCA Templates with Real-World ExamplesIncident: Checkout flow returned 500 errors for 45 minutes during Black Friday.3.7Common Anti-Patterns in RCA3.8Making RCAs Actionable: From Analysis to PreventionThe measure of a good RCA is not the quality of the analysis. It is whether the same type of incident stops happening.3.9Hands-On Exercise1. Take a recent production incident and write a full RCA report using the template above 2. Practice the 5 Whys technique on a recent bug…