When a Postmortem is the Right Move
When are postmortems the right approach for the team, and when are they no help?
The other day, I was discussing the design of an offsite with a client and we talked about how much time to allocate to looking backward at what went wrong, and what didn’t go well versus thinking about a new vision for the team.
The key lies in understanding the root issue. If your challenges stem from tactical or operational problems, a postmortem can be invaluable in providing insights for future improvement.
However, if the problem lies in your vision or overarching strategy, spending time dissecting the past can keep you stuck in the muck.
A good friend of mine, Wendy Smith, wrote a book – Both and Thinking – in which she talks about Polaroid. They dominated the film and camera market but missed the shift to digital photography. So if you’re Polaroid and in bankruptcy and you’re looking at how long did we distribute this film and how well did we do in marketing our Polaroid cameras, that is much less helpful than saying, “Hey, how did we miss the boat on digital photography?”
The question to ask is are you refining the current paradigm or creating a whole new one? If it’s the latter, focus on envisioning what’s next rather than dwelling on the past.
Postmortems have their place, but knowing when to look back and when to look forward is the real game-changer for your team and organization.
Read more: What Does a Pre-Mortem Look Like?
