Learn Generative AI, Prompt Engineering, and LLMs for Free
Build AI Apps with Azure, Copilot, and Generative AI — Microsoft Certified
Overview
AI, Data Science & Cloud Certificates from Google, IBM & Meta — 40% Off
One plan covers every Professional Certificate on Coursera. 40% off Coursera Plus Annual.
Unlock All Certificates
In this 25-minute conference talk from Conf42 SRE 2025, Paige Cruz draws unexpected parallels between reality TV shows and effective postmortem meetings in site reliability engineering. Discover how the drama of Real Housewives can inform better incident analysis through seven key lessons: bringing receipts (documentation), balancing facts with feelings, mastering facilitation techniques, preparing with pre-meetings, knowing when to let issues go, implementing effective time boxing, and creating a blameless culture. The presentation methodically explores how multiple perspectives enhance incident understanding, with practical strategies for conducting more productive postmortems that extract valuable insights while maintaining team cohesion.
Syllabus
00:00 Introduction and Overview
00:21 Reality TV and Postmortems: A Unique Comparison
00:46 The Power of Multiple Perspectives
05:30 Lessons from the Real Housewives
05:30 Lesson 1: Bring Receipts
07:43 Lesson 2: Facts and Feelings
09:24 Lesson 3: The Art of Facilitation
13:47 Lesson 4: The Meeting Before the Meeting
17:00 Lesson 5: Let the Mouse Go
18:59 Lesson 6: Time Box It
20:44 Lesson 7: Avoiding the Blame Game
23:25 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Taught by
Conf42