I recommend several tactics for escaping the Five Blames. The first is to make sure that everyone affected by the problem is in the room during the analysis of the root cause. The meeting should include anyone who discovered or diagnosed the problem, including customer service representatives who fielded the calls, if possible. It should include anyone who tried to fix the symptom as well as anyone who worked on the subsystems or features involved. If the problem was escalated to senior management, the decision makers who were involved in the escalation should be present as well.
