Vocabulary Bank

a post-mortem that separates the decision from the people who made it

the willingness to be honest at the moment honesty is most costly

phrases that acknowledge the other's point before answering it

a plausible alternative version of what could have happened instead

a smaller, in-flight adjustment short of a full pivot

the tendency to see past events as more predictable than they were

the social risk of admitting an error, dissenting, or asking a question

a review culture that treats people as local experts on their own decisions

here: visible and interpretable on the screen at the moment

a moment when the bad outcome was narrowly avoided

the person actually at the controls when the incident happened

a decisive change in direction while keeping the underlying vision intact

a structured review of a decision after the outcome is known

the shared belief that a team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking

the singular 'because' that closes the analysis too early

a consequence caused by the first consequence, often unforeseen

money or effort already spent that should not influence a forward-looking choice

Allspaw's core distinction — the root cause is almost always structural