In order to NOT get this achievement you would have to fail or skip every loyalty mission, buy none of the ship upgrades, and make every other incorrect choice. You will survive the mission as long as you have at least one member of your team besides Shepard that is still alive. Otherwise, poor Joker won't have the arm strength to pull you up from your impending doom. So basically, do the loyalty missions, buy the upgrades, and don't send teammates to die during the final mission.
In my opinion, there should be an achievement for not surviving the mission because you'd actually have to put forth an effort for that to happen.
If you're curious about how the ending will turn out (but don't want to completely screw up your save for Mass Effect 3), then here's a look (video credit goes to wewijr):