After-action Reviews – Are We Lazy? A conversation after an event to discuss improvement

There is nothing complicated about an after-action review. At its best, it is simply a conversation after an event or activity to discuss improvement. We should be engaging in this type of reflection daily. Every event, activity, or interaction should end with a simple conversation, whether with others or in our minds, initiated by the question, “How did that go?”

So why are AARs not more common? Peter Senge proposes one reason which is undoubtedly true.

The Army's After Action Review (AAR) is arguably one of the most successful organizational learning methods yet devised.

Yet, most every corporate effort to graft this truly innovative practice into their culture has failed because, again and again, people reduce the living practice of AAR's to a sterile technique.

Credit: Peter Senge

But I think the most likely explanation is that we are lazy, and it isn’t easy to make it a habit. I know however hard I try, I have never really established it as a regular practice.

Will There Be a Knowledge Management Revival?

Certified Knowledge Specialist in Conversational Leadership