Introspection and the Postmortem

Technology professionals know all too well that sometimes things go wrong. When software glitches occur and mission-critical systems impact users, there are often substantial consequences. Most companies will conduct meetings to understand the sequence of events that led to a serious systems outage. Sometimes these fact-finding meetings are called a postmortem, which derives from the term for the examination of a body to determine cause of death.

How you handle a postmortem depends on your leadership approach, the culture of your organization, and, of course, your own personal strengths. This article will consider how positive psychology can help you conduct more effective postmortems that lead to process improvements and more effective organizations.

We all know that mistakes happen. The important thing is that we learn from our mistakes and try to avoid making the same mistakes again. Unfortunately, technology teams often engage in very dysfunctional finger-pointing that results in some team members blaming each other instead of taking an open and honest approach to understanding exactly what went wrong and how problems can be prevented in the future.

Why do some people get defensive and others stand up and courageously admit their mistakes? Psychologists note that some people have personalities that predispose them to act in a defensive way, while others have the self-esteem to act with honor and integrity. People who are defensive often find it very difficult to have an honest discussion regarding mistakes that occurred and therefore have difficulty improving their own performance. Sometimes people will tell you they had previously tried to do the right thing, only to be punished by the organization. Consequently, they focus on self-preservation, even if it means providing incomplete or misleading information to protect themselves.

This dysfunctional behavior can adversely impact the behavior and performance of everyone around them. Successful managers engage in strategies that address these problems, including exhibiting the right traits and behaviors themselves. So, what exactly are these desired personality traits that result in the best behaviors, even under stress?

Positive psychology teaches that traits such as humility and modesty, along with self-control, lead to effective behaviors. Employees who do not feel threatened obviously find it much easier to act with humility, modesty, and self-control. Similarly, folks who value fairness and equity along with a strong sense of justice may find it easier to discuss mistakes and how they can be prevented. The priority should always be to figure out what mistakes occurred and how they can be prevented in the future. The truth is that it takes some courage to be completely honest when someone is under stress. But where does this courage come from, and how does one ensure that the members of their organization feel comfortable doing the right thing all the time?

Organizational culture often sets the stage for whether employees feel they are safe admitting their own mistakes. W. Edwards Deming focused on this when he taught us to “drive out fear.” Personality factors, including strong self-esteem, certainly predispose people to exhibit courage and integrity. But at a practical level, employees who feel safe are more likely to tell the truth about what occurred and also admit their own mistakes. Obviously, those who fear losing their jobs are more likely to engage in dysfunctional behaviors, such as finger-pointing and generally blaming others. Those who genuinely fear losing their jobs may indeed feel justified in lying and deceiving others to protect themselves from what they view as unfair consequences for their mistakes.

Positive psychology teaches us effective tactics for avoiding these problems and turning mistakes into lessons learned. Start by using a more positive approach to incident debriefing, such as an agile retrospective, which focuses more on what went well and what can be improved. Agile retrospectives help teams adapt and improve their efforts with a strong focus on open and effective communication.

If your organization insists on sticking with the postmortem, then at least help the team keep a positive attitude—and above all, eliminate finger-pointing and the blame game. The best approach is to encourage honesty and integrity in a culture that tolerates human error-based mistakes as long as they are a catalyst for process improvement. If your team can learn from their mistakes, then they will constantly improve and achieve success.