post-mortems
Analyses after death
Post-mortems are examinations conducted after death to determine the cause—autopsies.
The term extends to any analysis of something that has ended, especially a failed project or lost competition: The team held a post-mortem on why the product launch flopped.
In business and tech, post-mortems review what went wrong and what could improve next time.
Medical examination after death
- coronerPublic death investigator
- pathologistDisease diagnosis specialist
- examinationMethodical assessment or review
- cause of deathWhy someone died
morgue · dissection · forensic · toxicology · tissue samples · death certificate · findings · inquest
Reviewing what came before
- lessons learnedKnowledge from experience
- debriefPost-mission questioning session
- reviewCritical written assessment
- failure analysisStudy of why something broke
root cause · incident report · process improvement · feedback · accountability · recommendations · stakeholders · documentation
autopsy
Medical examination after death
- coronerPublic death investigator
- pathologistDisease diagnosis specialist
- examinationMethodical assessment or review
cause of death · morgue · dissection · forensic · toxicology · tissue samples · death certificate · findings · inquest · cadaver
retrospective
Reviewing what came before
- lessons learnedKnowledge from experience
- debriefPost-mission questioning session
- reviewCritical written assessment
failure analysis · root cause · incident report · process improvement · feedback · accountability · recommendations · stakeholders · documentation · prevention
post-mortemsbiopsies
Surgical diagnostic samplings
physical examinations · wellness checks · health screenings · clinical examinations
post-mortemspre-mortems
Preemptive failure analysis
planning sessions · feasibility studies · risk assessments · advance planning · forecasting