Incident
An unplanned interruption or reduction in quality of a service. Incident management emphasizes safe service restoration.
Academy / Reference / Glossary
Language matters.Evidence even more.
A compact reference for the terms used throughout the Academy. Definitions are educational summaries; formal terminology may differ among organizations and frameworks.
REFERENCE LIBRARY_
Twenty-two working definitions.
Terms describe investigative thinking, not a prescribed universal process. Use the appropriate standards, regulatory definitions and organizational policies where these apply.
Problem
A cause, or potential cause, of one or more incidents. Problem management aims to reduce future likelihood and impact.
Known error
A problem that has been analysed but not yet resolved. Knowledge about symptoms and possible workarounds may be useful.
Workaround
A temporary or alternative way to reduce impact while a full correction is not available; it does not necessarily remove the cause.
Root cause
The underlying contributing condition or combination of conditions supported by investigation. Real problems can have interacting causes.
Symptom
A visible manifestation of a problem, such as error rates or damaged products. It is not necessarily the causal mechanism.
Causal chain
A sequence of linked causes and effects where each connection should have supporting evidence.
Hypothesis
A proposed explanation that has not yet been established. A good hypothesis produces predictions that can be tested.
Evidence
Records, observations or results relevant to a claim, including provenance, limitations and context.
Falsifiable test
A check with a possible outcome that would count against the explanation if observed.
Baseline
The reference level or pattern against which a change or intervention is evaluated.
Recurrence rate
Frequency with which the same kind of failure repeats under a defined exposure and observation window.
Control
A procedural or technical mechanism intended to prevent, detect or limit the impact of a failure.
Verification
Comparison of observed outcomes against expected results following an intervention, across a suitable observation period.
Pareto analysis
Ranking categories by a consistent measure of frequency or impact; useful for prioritization, not by itself proof of causality.
Fishbone / Ishikawa
A cause-and-effect diagram used to organize plausible causes of a defined effect; branches remain hypotheses.
5 Whys
Iterative causal questioning that follows a plausible chain and checks links. The number of questions is not fixed.
Kepner–Tregoe Problem Analysis
A structured approach to diagnosing deviations through IS/IS NOT distinctions, changes and tests of possible causes.
Kepner–Tregoe Decision Analysis
A structured approach separating required conditions (MUSTs), desired preferences (WANTs) and risks among alternatives.
MUST / WANT
A decision criterion that must be met versus one that makes an eligible option more attractive.
Distinction
A relevant difference between where a deviation occurs (IS) and where it might occur but does not (IS NOT).
Exposure denominator
The number of opportunities for an error or incident, such as defects per 1,000 orders rather than raw defect counts.
MORE THAN TERMS_
Need to see a term in use? Read the professional Case Files or return to Problem Management Fundamentals.
Further reading