Premortems: Predict Every Way Your Idea Might Fail and Move Forward Anyway

Premortems are a tool for decision making with confidence. This exercise allows you to think through all the ways a project might fail and how to move forward anyway.

Once you identify the things that could go wrong, you can begin to understand the why behind each point of failure. Then you can plan preventively and pad your downside before you start the project. 

In today’s episode, we go through some real-world examples, and talk about when and how to use premortems to plan your projects better.

Main Takeaways

• When you think of a project as a failure and you identify the why, it allows you to take preventative measures before you even start. 
• You shouldn’t use premortems for all projects. They’re most useful for projects with a risk of misinterpretation or people using it in a way you didn’t intend. This is especially true if you plan to spend a lot of time, energy, or money on the project. 
• Start by understanding your goals and desired outcomes. Then, given that plan, assume things go horribly wrong. This enables you to poke holes in your plan that may actually exist rather than just taking a contrarian role or playing devil’s advocate. 

Creators of the Day 

• Ta-Nehisi Coates

Resources of the Day

• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

Thought of the Day

“The point of a premortem is to bring clarity to risk. Whenever you’re trying to make a decision, there’s risk involved. A premortem brings clarity to that decision.” ~ @nathanbarry

Links

• Black Panther Comic Books

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