One wrong move, and part of Amazon’s servers go down. Millions of dollars are at risk.
Jack, the employee responsible, freezes. This could be career-ending.
But something unexpected happens. Instead of getting fired, Jack is rewarded. His mistake didn’t just crash the system—it exposed a flaw that had gone unnoticed. Fixing it now saved the company from a much bigger disaster later.
That’s when it hit him: failure wasn’t the end. It was a starting point.
This is the foundation of a postmortem.
Postmortem (noun):
An analysis conducted after a mistake or failure, aimed at understanding what went wrong and how to prevent it from happening again. It’s about turning setbacks into opportunities. “Oh no” into “Aha”.
As someone working in the field of innovation, both as a team member and a leader, I’ve seen firsthand how major companies use postmortems not to assign blame, but to turn failures into opportunities for growth.
These processes are built into the DNA of how industry leaders continually improve.
At Google, major incidents are dissected for insights.
Amazon uses “Correction of Error” to turn mistakes into lessons shared across the company.
Netflix pushes its own systems to fail intentionally with “Chaos Engineering,” building resilience through controlled failure.
Microsoft conducts “Post-Incident Reviews” to turn setbacks into better services, while Etsy’s “Blameless Postmortems” focus on fixing systems, not blaming people.
These processes are the foundation of continuous learning, transforming failure into growth.
Instead of the typical knee-jerk blame game, tech giants like Amazon see failure differently—through the lens of growth.
Here’s the challenge: while big companies have mastered the art of learning from failure, for solopreneurs, it’s a much lonelier road.
When you’re running the show alone, failures don’t just sting—they feel personal. There’s no team to soften the blow, no manager to reassure you that mistakes are part of growth.
Each setback can feel like a reflection of your abilities, and that weight can be crushing.
Failures hit harder. They feel personal, even painful.
But for solopreneurs, structured reflection is even more essential. Without it, the same mistakes creep up again. Opportunities for insight slip away, and the emotional weight of failure keeps you from moving forward.
The cost of ignoring these lessons? Far higher than you think. Unexamined failures don’t just disappear—they hang around like hidden time bombs, ready to derail your next project.
In the unpredictable world of solopreneurship, can you afford to miss these insights?
Here’s the good news: you don’t need a corporate team to turn failure into growth. With RAFT, you can break down mistakes solo, step by step, and come back stronger.
The RAFT Framework: Turning Setbacks into Comebacks
After leading and studying dozens of postmortem rituals, I’ve distilled the key practices into a simple framework made for solopreneurs. It gives you the benefits of a corporate postmortem, but tailored for the solo journey.
RAFT stands for:
R – Recognize emotions
A – Analyze timeline
F – Find root causes
T – Transform into checklist items
Each step is designed to help you turn failures into fuel for future success. It’s about becoming your own Jack, your own innovation team, and your own supportive boss.
Let’s break down each part of RAFT:
R – Recognize Emotions: Feel It to Heal It
When failure strikes, your emotions are all over the place—frustration, disappointment, maybe even relief. Acknowledge them.
Ignoring your emotions only clouds your judgment. Give yourself time to process, but don’t let them drive the car. Feel it, then start to deal with it.
Every successful entrepreneur revisits this stage regularly, and so will you.
The practice of Creativity Walks is a powerful tool for emotional reset and creativity.
Alternatively, if you prefer a more immediate reset, try the 8-bit Zen approach. Engaging in simple, repetitive 8-bit games can clear your mind and reduce attention residue, offering the space you need to evaluate your failure with a fresh perspective.
A – Analyze Timeline: Rewind and Rewatch
Next, let’s play detective. Sketch out your project’s timeline—from that first spark of an idea to the moment things went off the rails.
As you map it, look for three things:
- The “Uh-Oh” Moment: When did you first sense something was wrong? Mark that spot, and look back for any warning signs you might’ve missed. These will help you catch red flags next time.
- The “What Went Wrong” Scenes: Highlight these in red or orange. Was it a lack of resources, bad timing, wrong tools, or not enough data?
- The “Hey, That Worked!” Parts: Highlight the wins in green. Maybe you learned a new skill, built a connection, or spotted an unexpected opportunity. These are the silver linings—don’t miss them.
F – Find Root Causes: Channel Your Inner Toddler
Now it’s time to dig deeper. Ask “Why?” five times for each problem. Like a curious toddler, you’ll keep questioning until you hit the root cause.
Here are the common culprits:
- Resource Issues: As a solopreneur, your main resource is YOU. Did you lack a skill or run out of funds before the idea could take off?
- Bad Timing: The trickiest part of business. Did you give enough time for key tasks, or did you launch at the wrong moment?
- Wrong Tools: Did you pick the right tech for the job, or were you using the wrong tool for the task?
- Not Enough Data: In today’s world, flying blind is a choice. Were your decisions based on actual numbers or vague advice?
Remember, this isn’t about blame. It’s about finding the insights that will guide you forward.
T – Transform into Checklist Items: Build Your Phoenix Checklist
Here’s where transformation begins. You’re going to create your Phoenix Checklist—a personal guidebook that helps you rise from the ashes, stronger and wiser.
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” – Henry Ford
Now, look at your red and orange highlights. What can you learn? Maybe you need better time management, or a way to validate your ideas earlier.
Each lesson becomes a checklist item to guide you moving forward.
Don’t forget your green highlights—what worked well? Add those to your checklist, too. These are the strategies you’ll want to repeat and expand on next time.
This process works for any project, big or small—let’s look at a couple of real-world scenarios to see how the RAFT framework can transform setbacks into strategic insights.
Example 1: Failed Online Course Launch
Take the case of a solopreneur launching an online course. Despite putting in months of hard work, the course failed to gain traction.
R – Recognize Emotions:
Our course creator felt a mix of frustration, disappointment, and embarrassment. They gave themselves a day to process these emotions, journaling their thoughts and talking to a trusted friend.
A – Analyze Timeline:
a) Course idea (January 1)
b) Content creation (January 15 – March 15)
c) Platform setup (March 20 – April 5)
d) Marketing campaign (April 10 – April 30)
e) Launch (May 1)
f) Low enrollment (May 1 – May 15)
g) Course cancellation (May 20)
F – Find Root Causes:
Why low enrollment? Insufficient marketing reach.
Why insufficient reach? Relied only on organic social media.
Why only organic? Lack of marketing budget.
Why no budget? Underestimated the importance of marketing.
Why underestimated? Overconfidence in the course content’s ability to attract students.
T – Transform into Checklist Items:
- Allocate 30% of the project budget to marketing.
- Build an email list of at least 1,000 potential students before course creation.
- Launch a free mini-course as a lead magnet two months before the main course.
- Set clear enrollment goals and deadlines before full course development.
- Create a multi-channel marketing strategy, including paid ads and partnerships.
- Conduct market research to validate the course topic and price point.
- Establish feedback loops with early students to improve content continuously.
Example 2: Mobile App with High Uninstall Rate
Let’s consider an app developer who invested heavily into launching a new product, only to be blindsided by a high uninstall rate.
R – Recognize Emotions:
The app developer felt shock, determination, and curiosity. After a weekend break, they approached the problem with a fresh, solution-focused mindset.
A – Analyze Timeline:
a) App idea validation (June 1)
b) MVP development (June 15 – August 15)
c) Beta testing (August 20 – September 10)
d) App store launch (September 15)
e) Initial downloads (September 15 – 30)
f) High uninstall rate noticed (October 5)
g) Negative reviews accumulated (October 5 – 20)
F – Find Root Causes:
Why high uninstall rate? App crashes frequently.
Why crashes? Insufficient testing on various devices.
Why insufficient testing? Limited device budget.
Why limited budget? Underestimated importance of thorough testing.
Why underestimated? Overconfidence in coding skills.
T – Transform into Checklist Items:
- Set up a device farm for testing, covering 90% of target user devices.
- Implement crash reporting and analytics from the first day of beta testing.
- Create a beta testing program with at least 100 diverse users.
- Develop a phased rollout plan: 10% > 25% > 50% > 100% over two weeks.
- Design a user onboarding process to improve the first-time experience.
- Set up automated user feedback collection at key points in the app journey.
- Schedule bi-weekly code reviews to maintain performance and stability.
Your Phoenix Checklist: The Tool for Continuous Growth
By walking through the RAFT process in these examples, we see how each step builds on the last. Emotional recognition helps set the stage for objective analysis. Timelines reveal where things went wrong. Root causes highlight the deeper issues. And the Phoenix Checklist transforms these lessons into actionable steps.
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
This approach turns potential failures into structured learning opportunities. Our course creator now has a robust marketing strategy, and the app developer has an enhanced quality assurance plan.
Your Phoenix Checklist is a living document. Update it after every project—whether a success or setback—and review it before starting something new. It’s like having a wise mentor (your future self) guiding you.
As a solopreneur, your greatest strength is learning and adapting quickly. Every failure is just data, refining your process. So when things don’t go as planned, grab your RAFT and turn that setback into your next success.
Prefer to listen? Tune into the podcast version of this post below!
