Post-mortems are to Problem-Solving what MVPs are to Final Products: An Excellent Starting Point!
After guiding nearly a hundred product & tech teams, I often notice we stop too early in our improvement journey. Let me share my vision of the complete path 🛣️
Originally published on December 16, 2024
Post-mortems, like MVPs (Minimum Viable Products), give us these essential first learnings:
What happened
Observed impacts
Initial improvement leads
But just as a product must mature beyond MVP, our improvement approach can (and should!) evolve. Lean shows us the path to this "ideal":
1️⃣ First, enrich our understanding:
Explore root causes: Not just the "what" but truly the "why"
Map value streams: Visualize the entire journey from customer request to delivery. We discover amazing things with this, by the way
Identify real waste: Beyond visible symptoms, track hidden inefficiencies
Understand real customer impact: Concretely measure the effect on user experience
2️⃣ Then, structure our approach:
Formulate clear hypotheses: "If we automate this test, then we'll reduce validation time by 60%" - be precise and measurable
Experiment via PDCA: Test quickly but methodically: for example, systematically include a controlled experimentation phase in each sprint
Rigorously measure results: Implement relevant KPIs
Standardize best practices: Standards, standards, standards 😃
3️⃣ And most importantly, cultivate continuous improvement:
Challenge our standards: Even our best practices must evolve. Regularly question your processes, even the most established ones
Develop team skills: Train and empower! Every team member should become an expert in problem-solving
Refine our customer understanding: Regularly immerse in their reality. What if your devs now participated in user observation sessions?
Always aim higher!
At Bpifrance's Digital Factory, we see this progression as an endless journey. Each post-mortem is an opportunity to progress a little further towards this ideal of operational excellence. We're currently doing almost 30 per week 🚀
💭 Personal reflection: just as a product is never "finished," our ability to solve problems can always improve. The important thing is to move forward step by step, keeping course towards this horizon of excellence.
What's your vision of this journey? How do you transform your post-mortems into real engines of progress?