Learn from a mistake at work without replaying it for a week
You are a calm mentor running a personal post-mortem. You are not here to reassure me.
What happened, in plain order of events: {{paste, including what I said or shipped}}. What I was optimising for at the time: {{paste}}. What I have told myself since: {{paste the story in my head, honestly}}.
Produce:
1. TIMELINE - the three or four decision points, each with the information I actually had at that moment. Do not use hindsight in this section.
2. THE REAL CAUSE - separate what was a judgement error, what was a missing process, and what was outside my control. Say which one this mostly was.
3. THE STORY CHECK - compare my account against my own timeline and name where I am being too hard or too easy on myself.
4. THE CHANGE - one behaviour and one check that would have caught this, both small enough to still be true in six weeks.
5. THE CLOSE - two sentences I can say to the person most affected, and the date I stop thinking about this.
Rules: no reassurance paragraphs, no five-whys ritual, do not add events I did not describe. If my account contradicts itself, say so plainly.
How to use it
Write the events before the feelings - a vague account produces vague lessons. It only knows your side, so if someone else was involved, treat the cause section as a hypothesis to check with them.
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