What “Post-Mortem” Really Means

You’d think this is obvious. “Post-mortem” is an examination that takes place after someone dies, in order to find out how they died.

Metaphorically, then, “post-mortem” is often used in the world of business to describe a meeting that examines how and why a particular piece of business fell apart.

If there’s one thing you can’t find much of in the day to day life of corporate America, it’s irony. But the use of this metaphor is an exception. Because usually, when you hear the word “post-mortem” bandied about at the office, the project in question is still active. In other words, the patient is still alive.

You’ve heard it. You’ve probably said it. “When this is all over, we need to have a post-mortem.” Can you imagine a doctor saying that? He’s scrubbing down, wheeling some poor sap into surgery, shaking his head at the lack of planning that has led up to this moment.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” he says as the panicking patient loses consciousness to anaesthesia, “this is the wrong thing to do.”

“Well,” says the other doctor, nodding in sympathy, “we’ll have a chance to go over all the missteps in the post-mortem.”

And then they operate.

image by Ned Dunn