Pre Mortem

If a post-mortem tells us what the cause of death was then the pre-mortem is the opportunity to discuss in advance what the cause of death could be for our project. It’s a simple idea, but it can create stacks of value. A pre-mortem is a workshop that gives a…

People suck at planning. And when I say people, I mean you too. It’s not a personal slight — although I’m sure the shoe does fit — it is a part of human behavior called the Planning Fallacy. …

Ezra 4:4, 5 Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. …

What is pre-mortem Pre-mortem is a management strategy that allows you to recognize problems before they arise and try to find solutions to them. It is the opposite of post-mortem. Post-mortem, also known as autopsy, is the examination of a body after death. The aim of a post-mortem is to determine the cause…

We agree that talking about failure is healthy, but we forget to think about failing ahead of time. There aren’t many organizations where people are encouraged to entertain the thought of crashing and burning. Project leaders do not close out meetings with “Folks, we came up with nine reasons our…

As a leader, often your biggest worry is to build features or launch initiatives that fall flat. Failure is inevitable and probably necessary for innovation. Yet, certain practices can help you reduce chances of failure by helping identify blind spots. One practice to identify potential causes of failure in advance…

“If a way to the better there be, it exacts a full look at the worst ” — Thomas Hardy When was the last time you had a failure in your organization that you had to go into a postmortem meetup and identify the reasons for that failure? Let’s imagine…