I recently watched a video where someone shared an experience working with a mining operation. A building caught on fire, and after they got it under control, the entire company shut down for 24 hours. Not to celebrate or recover from the fire, but to focus entirely on preventing it from happening again. This shutdown was taken seriously-they were validating what had gone wrong, figuring out the root cause, and taking steps to ensure it wouldn't repeat.

Now here's the kicker: just a month earlier, the same company had achieved one of the biggest goals in their history, but they didn't stop work for that. No 24-hour reflection, no pause to validate why things went so well. They simply celebrated and moved on.

This got me thinking: when something goes wrong, we pour energy into finding the root cause. We investigate what led to the issue and implement changes to prevent it from happening again. It's instinctive, especially in consulting, where a failure can mean losing a valuable client or having a contract canceled. But do we apply the same rigor when things go incredibly well?

Where's the Root Cause Analysis for Success?

Your team just executed the smoothest go-live in the firm's history. You secured the largest contract your company has ever landed and delivered on it flawlessly. But what happens next? Maybe a happy hour to celebrate, which is great, but are we stopping to validate why this success happened?

Just like we do with failures, shouldn't we pause to reflect on what made a success possible? After all, if we don't understand what made this outcome different, how can we ensure we replicate it in the future? It's not enough to just celebrate-we need to treat success as an opportunity to learn and improve.

Does this sound familiar? Maybe in Agile? Ever heard of a "Retrospective"?

In Agile, teams regularly hold retrospectives to analyze what went well and what didn't after each sprint. It's a core practice for continuous improvement. But what if we applied that same level of analysis to our most significant achievements? Obviously on a smaller scale, one of the points of agile sprints is to have a regular cadence of feedback and improvement.

After a major success, do we:

• Investigate what was different this time?
• Identify key decisions or strategies that contributed?
• Understand why this project exceeded expectations?

By validating success the same way we validate failure, we can create a roadmap for replicating those positive outcomes.

What about your team?

• When was the last time you did a root cause analysis for a success?
• Have you found specific factors that contributed to a win that you can apply again?
• How does your company handle major achievements, and is that enough to ensure future success?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below-I'd love to hear how you and your teams reflect on and validate success!