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IncidentsMarch 25, 2026· 8 min read

Root Cause Analysis Done Right: The 5 Whys & Beyond

The 5 Whys is a powerful tool, but only if you avoid common traps: stopping too early, assigning blame, and ignoring systemic factors. Walk through three real post-mortems and learn what a blameless RCA looks like in practice.

Beyond Human Error

Human error is never the root cause; it's the starting point for an investigation. A proper blameless RCA uncovers the systemic factors that allowed the human error to occur in the first place.

About the Author

S
Sofia AndradeSenior Infrastructure Engineer

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Root Cause Analysis Done Right: The 5 Whys & Beyond