What role does a Post Incident Review play in agile software engineering?

I’ve had a few discussions over the years, as to what the role of Post Incident Review’s (PIR) have in the rapid inspect and adapt world of software engineering and product development.

There seems to be a gag like reflex at the mention of the term — with it’s connotations to ITIL and Service Management — much the same as we see a lot of newly minted agilists react to the mention of waterfall. Cries like “Don’t we have a retrospective that we can do this inspection and adaptation in?” are common, seeing…