# Postmortem

Use after a failed launch, missed quarter or bad hire.

- Repository: https://github.com/alirezarezvani/claude-skills (29114 stars)
- Category: Engineering
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-10-31
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add alirezarezvani/claude-skills --skill postmortem -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add alirezarezvani/claude-skills --skill postmortem -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add alirezarezvani/claude-skills --skill postmortem -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add alirezarezvani/claude-skills --skill postmortem -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add alirezarezvani/claude-skills`

## Description

Use after a failed launch, missed quarter or bad hire. Runs a blameless 5-Whys with a change register.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# /executive-mentor:postmortem, Honest Analysis of What Went Wrong

**Command:** `/executive-mentor:postmortem <event>`

Not blame. Understanding. The failed deal, the missed quarter, the feature that flopped, the hire that didn't work out. What actually happened, why, and what changes as a result.

---

## Why Most Post-Mortems Fail

They become one of two things:

**The blame session**, someone gets scapegoated, defensive walls go up, actual causes don't get examined, and the same problem happens again in a different form.

**The whitewash**, "We learned a lot, we're going to do better, here are 12 vague action items." Nothing changes. Same problem, different quarter.

A real post-mortem is neither. It's a rigorous investigation into a system failure. Not "whose fault was it" but "what conditions made this outcome predictable in hindsight?"

**The purpose:** extract the maximum learning value from a failure so you can prevent recurrence and improve the system.

---

## The Framework

### Step 1: Define the Event Precisely

Before analysis: describe exactly what happened.

- What was the expected outcome?
- What was the actual outcome?
- When was the gap first visible?
- What was the impact (financial, operational, reputational)?

Precision matters. "We missed Q3 revenue" is not precise enough. "We closed $420K in new ARR vs $680K target, a $260K miss driven primarily by three deals that slipped to Q4 and one deal that was lost to a competitor" is precise.

### Step 2: The 5 Whys, Done Properly

The goal: get from **what happened** (the symptom) to **why it happened** (the root cause).

Standard bad 5 Whys:
- Why did we miss revenue? Because deals slipped.
- Why did deals slip? Because the sales cycle was longer than expected.
- Why? Because the customer buying process is complex.
- Why? Because we're selling to enterprise.
- Why? That's just how enterprise sales works.

→ Conclusion: Nothing to do. It's just enterprise.

The rest: https://github.com/alirezarezvani/claude-skills/blob/HEAD/c-level-advisor/executive-mentor/skills/postmortem/SKILL.md