# Why post-mortem action items die

DevFeed: [Why post-mortem action items die](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/why-post-mortem-action-items-die-12088.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://incident.io/blog/why-post-mortem-action-items-die>)

Author: Kate Bernacchi-Sass

Published: 2026-04-16T13:55:19Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [The incident.io Blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/the-incident-io-blog.md>)

Topics: [Post Mortem](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/post-mortem.md>), [incident](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/incident.md>), [Incident response](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/incident-response.md>), [Monitoring](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/monitoring.md>)

Tags: [incident](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/incident.md>), [incident-channel](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/incident-channel.md>), [incident-management](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/incident-management.md>), [incident-response](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/incident-response.md>), [monitoring](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/monitoring.md>), [on-call](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/on-call.md>), [outage](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/outage.md>), [post-mortem](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/post-mortem.md>), [slack-incident](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/slack-incident.md>), [technical](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/technical.md>)

## AI overview

The article explains why post-mortem action items often fail after incident debriefs. It identifies unclear ownership, storage outside the team's normal work tools, vague directions instead of verifiable tasks, and lack of follow-up checks as common failure modes.

## Source excerpt

You can run the best debrief of your life. Honest timeline, blameless tone, real insights. People leave the room nodding. And then nothing happens. Here's how to fix that.