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The Human Side of Postmortems

Types of post-mortems

The very idea of a blameless postmortem just feels weird to people because we're hardwired for blame. Three best practices ]. The buzz around "blameless" is too loud to ignore, but what are successful "blameless teams" really experiencing? Their postmortems are not blameless, they are blame aware: They collectively acknowledge the human tendency to blame, they allow for a productive form of its expression, and they constantly refocus the postmortem's attention past it.

Another term you can use for blame-aware postmortems, one that I regularly use, is "actionable retrospectives," where the g oal is to have actionable outcomes upon which the engineering teams and business can act. Moving from a blameful to a blame-aware culture takes a lot of effort and time, no doubt. But research shows that the positive impact to safety, operator burnout , and ultimately business outcomes is improved using this approach.

"Blameless" postmortems don't work. Here's what does.

Ultimately, the secret of those mythical DevOps blameless cultures that hold the actionable postmortems we all crave is that they actively foster an environment that accepts the realities of the human brain and creates a space to acknowledge blame in a healthy way. Then they actively work to look beyond it. You succeed in spite of the tendency toward blamefulness, not by pretending it doesn't exist. How are blameless postmortems working for your team? Are you blame aware? Post your comments below, and hear J.

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Blameless postmortems don't work. Be blame-aware but don't go negative

To blame, or not to blame. The fact of the matter is, they're right. There is no such thing as a blameless postmortem. World Quality Report The State of QA and Testing. Key factors for major agile transformation success.

We're wired for blame

This in-depth analysis of QA will help you to understand challenges, how teams are overcoming them, and trends in software quality. A connected and integrated DevOps toolset enables end-to-end communication and collaboration at enterprise scale.

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Blameless Post Mortems

Tomorrow's apps will demand a new programming approach. Fortunately, these four key developments are coming along at just the right time. Culture and leadership are key to a successful agile transformation. Here are proven ways to make sure both factors work in your favor. Key factors for major agile transformation success Lessons from the front lines.

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    GitHub Actions is new a workflow-automation tool that changes the game for software delivery. How to put GitHub Actions to work for your software team Go with the workflow. Hospital post-mortems can only be carried out with consent from the next of kin. Next of Kin In this context, next of kin is defined by the Human Tissue Act and refers to people who were in a qualifying relationship to the person who has died.

    Sometimes, a relative of the person who has died will ask for a hospital post-mortem to find out more about the cause of death. Hospital post-mortems are important in helping to understand how people die. For example, some illnesses are passed down through families and a post-mortem examination may provide you with this information if you wish to know. A post-mortem can also help doctors to understand illnesses and may also contribute to the development of new ways of treating patients with similar problems.

    Hospital post-mortems can be limited to certain areas of the body, such as the head, chest or abdomen, and this will be discussed with you when you are asked for your consent. Only the specific organs or tissue which you give your consent can be removed for examination.

    The Human Tissue Authority recommends that you should be given 24 hours to consider your decision about the post-mortem and that you will be given details of someone to contact if you change your mind. A family can request a hospital post-mortem by approaching the clinical team who cared for their relative.

    It is carried out under the authority of a local coroner to find out how someone has died.