Name a common method used in root cause analysis to investigate incidents.

• A. The 5 Whys technique
• B. Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
• C. Fault Tree Analysis
• D. SWOT Analysis

Answer: (A)

Root cause analysis uses systematic methods to identify underlying causes of incidents so that you can prevent recurrence. The 5 Whys technique is a widely used, practical approach for this purpose. It involves asking why each problem happened and then asking why for the answer, iterating until you reach a fundamental cause that, once addressed, stops the chain of events. This keeps the investigation focused on changes to processes or organization rather than just treating symptoms, and it’s especially useful when time is limited or the team is small, because it’s simple to apply and explain to stakeholders.

Other methods serve different needs. Failure Mode and Effects Analysis looks ahead to identify potential failure modes before incidents occur and prioritize mitigations, rather than diagnosing what happened after the fact. Fault Tree Analysis uses formal logic to map out how multiple failures combine to produce a top event, which can be thorough but is more resource-intensive. SWOT Analysis examines strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for strategic planning, not the specific causes of an incident.