Overview
Popularized by Google and Etsy, blameless post-mortems are based on the belief that 'human error' is usually a symptom of a deeper systemic problem. By removing the fear of punishment, teams are more likely to be honest about what happened, leading to better learning and more effective corrective actions.
Key Principles
- Assume Good Intent: Everyone was doing their best with the information they had.
- Focus on the 'How' and 'Why': Not the 'Who'.
- Identify Systemic Gaps: Look for missing guardrails, poor tooling, or unclear processes.
Benefits
- Psychological Safety: Encourages open communication and learning.
- Better Solutions: Leads to fixes that prevent future errors rather than just punishing the last person to make one.