---
name: Root Cause Analysis
description: Fix causes, not symptoms.
---
# Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

RCA finds the underlying cause of a problem so the fix prevents recurrence. Fixing the symptom moves the problem; fixing the cause ends it.

## Method (5 Whys)
Ask "why" iteratively until you reach a systemic cause:
- "The deploy failed." → "Why?" → "A test didn't catch the bug." → "Why?" → "The test didn't cover that path." → "Why?" → "We didn't write acceptance criteria for it." → root cause: missing criteria in the process.

Stop when you reach something you can change systemically, not when you reach a person to blame.

## Avoid
- Stopping at the first plausible-sounding cause. The first why is usually a symptom.
- Blame. "An operator made an error" is a cause; "the process let an error happen undetected" is the root.
- Single-cause thinking. Most failures are combinations; map them.