Root Cause Pattern — Checklist

Pattern: Root Cause
Component: checklist.md
Version: 1.1 | Updated: 2026-07-16

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Gate: Do not mark the incident’s learning phase complete until FINAL passes scrub.

Meeting

• Blameless norm read aloud
• Timeline reviewed before analysis
• Action owners present or delegated

Content

• Incident summary with impact numbers
• UTC timeline with sources
• Exactly one root-cause sentence (systemic)
• 5 Whys completed
• Contributing factors table (not extra roots)
• Detection gap answered (time-to-detect + checkboxes)
• Immediate / short-term / long-term remediation sections
• Every open action has Owner and Due
• Prevention summary is measurable (alerts, controls, tests)
• No negative naming of individuals

Close-out

• Status FINAL with reviewer name/date
• Actions in tracking system with links
• Prevention checklist reviewed until checked or re-planned