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Chapter 6 of 66 min

After-action reviews

Experience only becomes skill when you learn from it. A short, honest after-action review turns every project, shift or presentation into lessons you can apply next time.

Key ideas

  • Compare what was planned with what actually happened.
  • Focus on causes and improvements, not blame.
  • Every review ends with one change to try next time.

Step by step

  1. 1

    Ask: what did we intend to happen?

  2. 2

    Ask: what actually happened?

  3. 3

    Ask: why was there a difference?

  4. 4

    Decide: what will we keep and what will we change next time?

Example

After a busy night shift, a team spends ten minutes on these four questions. They change the handover order, and the next week's handovers are faster and safer.

Your drill

Run a four-question after-action review on your most recent important task and write down one change for next time.

Common mistakes

  • Turning the review into a search for someone to blame.
  • Listing lessons without committing to a specific change.

Check yourself

What should every after-action review end with?

Show the answer

A specific change to try next time and what to keep doing.

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