Pre-mortem

Imagine the project has failed, then list why — causes, warning signs, top fixes.

In Plan / Decision · Out Causes & Fixes · Cost 25 credits

What it does

Imagines the plan has already failed, then works backward: every plausible cause, each with the earliest warning sign you would notice before it is too late. The three most critical causes get a concrete countermeasure; the rest keep their sign and stay unaddressed on purpose.

When to reach for it

After a plan exists — an MVP hypothesis, a backlog, a decision — and before it ships. Imagining failure is easier for a team to be honest about than predicting it; nobody has to defend the idea from a death that already happened.

Worth knowing

Only three causes get a fix. A pre-mortem that answers every cause dilutes itself — the method forces a choice, not a complete list. The rest still carry their warning sign, so the team knows what to watch.