Root cause analysis (RCA) refers to structured methods for investigating why an unwanted event occurred and identifying corrective actions. Common techniques include timelines, five-whys questioning, fault trees, barrier analysis, and causal-factor charts.
High-quality RCA goes beyond blaming the nearest person. It examines conditions, controls, workload, design, and why an action made sense locally. RCA is strongest for bounded events with recoverable evidence.
Limitation
Persistent patterns with adaptation and circular causality may not have one separable root. Systems thinking can place incident causes within wider feedback structures.
Compare the approaches in Root Cause Analysis vs Systems Thinking.