SYSE.38:4.3 - Discriminate plausible explanations

Form a small set of explanations that account for the observed failure. Name what would distinguish them. Prefer available read-only evidence or a bounded, qualified experiment that can actually change the next decision.

Compare observations at the relevant path boundaries. Long queue waiting and short execution suggest a different problem from immediate admission followed by a dependency timeout. A correlation with a recent change is a lead, not proof that the change caused the failure.

Make one interpretable intervention at a time where practical. When urgent response requires several actions, retain their timing and effects and avoid claiming that the final action alone established causation. Preserve the useful configuration, attempt and failure evidence within its data-handling limits.

If the remaining question needs a specialist, return the observed failure, surviving alternatives, constraints and exact result needed. Do not transfer an unbounded “please fix the platform” problem when a narrower question is already known.