pre-mortem

Pre Mortem

Use this skill to run Pre Mortem as a practical consulting method, not as a generic framework explanation.

Method Notes

• Use prospective hindsight: assume the plan failed, then explain why.
• Convert failure causes into prevention actions and early warnings.

Required Inputs

Collect or infer these inputs before execution:

• planned action
• success criteria
• timeline
• stakeholders
• known risks

If an input is missing, do not block automatically. Mark it as missing, state the assumption used, and add a validation action.

When Not To Use

Do not use after a failure has already occurred; use root-cause analysis instead. A pre-mortem requires a specific plan and time horizon, not a generic list of things that might go wrong.

Adjacent Methods

• risk-matrix: prioritize known risk events after they are identified.
• scenario-planning: compare plausible external futures, not failure causes of one plan.

Step-by-Step Execution

Step	Required input	How to execute	Output
Describe plan	Plan, launch date, success criteria.	State the plan as if the team believes it will work.	Plan frame.
Assume failure	Future date and failed outcome.	Write a short future failure narrative.	Failure scenario.
Generate causes	Team concerns, dependencies, assumptions.	List plausible reasons the plan failed.	Failure cause list.
Prioritize preventable causes	Cause list, likelihood, impact, controllability.	Pick the causes worth preventing now.	Priority failure modes.
Design prevention	Priority causes.	Define prevention actions, early warnings, owners, and contingencies.	Pre-mortem action plan.

Output Template

### 1. Plan And Failure Horizon
Plan:
Launch / decision date:
Assumed failure date:
Success definition:

### 2. Failure Narrative
The plan failed because:
Observed consequences:
Earliest warning:

### 3. Failure Modes
| Failure mode | Cause | Preventability | Evidence | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|  |  |  |  |  |

### 4. Prevention Plan
| Prevention / contingency | Owner | Timing | Trigger |
|---|---|---|---|
|  |  |  |  |

### Evidence And Next Decision
- Confirmed facts:
- Assumptions:
- Missing evidence:
- Next action, owner, and timing:
- Expected signal and decision threshold: