Post-mortem. After Action Review. Hot Wash. Debrief.
These are all terms for an intentional look-back to evaluate a past event with an eye towards lessons to apply to make a future event more successful. Not a blame game. Not punitive. We can’t change the past, but we can work smarter and prepare better for next time – and there will be a next time.
People can be held accountable without acceding to the wishes of the mob and the insecure immature. The key here is to manage emotions, use factual assessments, and grace-fully agree on how to move forward. Aim to find answers to “What will we do so it’s better next time?”
This applies to something as small as a 5-minute presentation to the boss, and as large as global response to a pandemic.
