The Outbackx Post-Mortem Audit: Comparing Traceable Paths to Root-Cause Maps
A post-mortem audit is only as good as its ability to connect what happened to why it happened. Too often, teams produce a timeline of events but fail to identify the deeper causes, or they jump to a root cause without verifying the path that led there. This guide compares two complementary approaches: traceable paths (step-by-step reconstructions of event sequences) and root-cause maps (visualizations of systemic causes and their interdependencies). We'll explore when each works best, how to combine them, and what pitfalls to avoid. Why This Comparison Matters for Post-Mortem Audits Every incident post-mortem faces a fundamental tension: the need for a clear, linear story versus the reality that most failures involve multiple interacting factors. Traceable paths satisfy our desire for chronology—they show exactly what happened in what order. Root-cause maps, on the other hand, capture the web of conditions and decisions that made the incident possible.