The Incident Severity Creep Pattern

Sev 3 incidents that should have been sev 2. The pattern, the cost, and the calibration that prevents it.

Symptom

More sev 3s than sev 2s and 1s combined. The team is under-classifying.

Customer impact larger than the severity suggests.

Cause

Severity definitions vague. Each engineer applies their own threshold.

Team norm: 'don't escalate unless certain.'

Fix

Specific definitions per severity level.

Periodic calibration: 30 random incidents reviewed for correct severity.