Skill · Data
Post mortem
/cs:post-mortem <decision> — Honest retrospective on an executed decision, scored against original assumptions and dissent. Closes the strategic sprint loop. Use when a decision hits its 90-day review checkpoint or its kill criteria trigger — e.g. scoring last quarter's pricing change against its pre-committed success metrics.
How to use it
- Start your plan and connect your AI once
- Ask for the task in your own words, or say it directly:
Use the Post mortem skill to help me with this.Without a connection: copy the SKILL.md below into your AI's project instructions.
/cs:post-mortem — Honest Retrospective
Command: /cs:post-mortem <decision-path>
Closes the strategic sprint loop. Scores a decision against the success and kill criteria written before the decision (not retro-fitted) and revisits the preserved dissent. This is the rigor that compounds over time.
Pipeline Position
/cs:office-hours → /cs:brief → /cs:boardroom → /cs:decide → /cs:execute → /cs:post-mortem
↑ you are hereWhen to Run
- At the 90-day checkpoint (auto-scheduled by
/cs:decide) - When a kill criterion triggers
- After a major decision is reversed
- Quarterly on all decisions of the past quarter
Inputs
- The decision record (output of
/cs:decide) - The execution plan (output of
/cs:execute) - Actual outcomes (metrics, events, customer signals)
Output: Post-Mortem Record
Saved to ~/.claude/postmortems/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.md:
# Post-Mortem: <decision title>
**Decision date:** YYYY-MM-DD
**Post-mortem date:** YYYY-MM-DD
**Status:** WIN / PARTIAL / LOSS / MIXED
## Outcome Scoring (against pre-committed criteria)
| Success Criterion | Threshold | Actual | Met? |
|---|---|---|---|
| <metric 1> | <threshold> | <actual> | ✅ / ❌ |
| <metric 2> | <threshold> | <actual> | ✅ / ❌ |
| Kill Criterion | Threshold | Actual | Triggered? |
|---|---|---|---|
| <metric> | <threshold> | <actual> | ✅ / ❌ |
**Overall:** WIN / PARTIAL / LOSS / MIXED
## What We Got Right
- <factor 1>
- <factor 2>
## What We Got Wrong
- <factor 1>
- <factor 2>
## Preserved Dissent — Revisited
[Original dissent from the boardroom memo, scored:]
- **<dissenter>:** <original concern>
- **Did it materialize?** YES / NO / PARTIAL
- **Cost if YES:** <quantified impact>
- **Lesson:** <one sentence>
## Assumption Audit
[Original brief's assumptions, scored:]
- **Assumption 1:** <text>
- **Held?** YES / NO / PARTIAL
- **Why:** <explanation>
## Process Lessons
- **Phase 2 isolation worked?** YES / NO
- **Devil's advocate concerns played out?** YES / NO / PARTIAL
- **Cadence was right?** YES / TOO LOOSE / TOO TIGHT
## Forward Actions
- [ ] <change to operating system or routing logic>
- [ ] <new decision to make based on this learning>
- [ ] <update company-context.md>
## Status
- WIN → archive, log lesson
- LOSS → schedule follow-up boardroom: `/cs:brief` for the next callWhy Pre-Committed Criteria Matter
The biggest temptation in post-mortems is retroactive justification: "we always knew X, that's why we did Y." Pre-committed criteria, signed at /cs:decide time, eliminate that move. The numbers either matched or they didn't.
Why Revisit Dissent
The dissent column from /cs:boardroom is the single most useful piece of organizational memory. Most of the time, the dissenter was directionally right. Revisiting and scoring it builds calibration over years.
Routing
/cs:brief— if the post-mortem surfaces a new decision/cs:freeze— if the post-mortem reveals a process gap that needs cooldown enforcement- Updates to company-context.md via
cs-onboard
Related
- Skill: [
decision-logger](../../../skills/decision-logger/SKILL.md) - Agent: [
cs-chief-of-staff](../../agents/cs-chief-of-staff.md) - Sibling: [
/em:postmortem](../../../executive-mentor/skills/postmortem/SKILL.md) — adversarial single-decision post-mortem
Version: 1.0.0