Postmortem Quote by Ed Catmull
““Teach Others Who Weren’t There Even if everyone involved in a production understands what it taught them, the postmortem is a great way of passing on the positive and negative lessons to other people who were not on the project. So much of what we do is not obvious—the result of hard-won experience. Then again, some of what we do doesn’t really make sense. The postmortem provides a forum for others to learn or challenge the logic behind certain decisions.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Creativity, Inc., Pixar Animation Studios, 2014
Postmortems capture hidden lessons, allowing teams to learn from successes and failures beyond obvious outcomes.
In simple terms: Team reviews after projects reveal hidden insights for future work.
Key Takeaway
Conduct thorough reviews to improve future decisions.
Themes
learning
process improvement
team collaboration
Mood
analytical
constructive
Type
professional
educational
When to use this quote
- software development
- film production
- product launches
- research projects
Key Concepts
knowledge management
organizational learning
critical thinking
Questions to Reflect On
- What lessons have you missed without a postmortem?
- How can you create a safe space for honest critique?
A Different Perspective
May be time‑consuming or reveal uncomfortable truths.
