Career & Communication · 55 sec
Use a Pre-Mortem Before Starting
Imagine the project has already failed.
The useful idea
- Understand
A pre-mortem asks people to assume a future project failure has already happened.
- Connect
Team members then list plausible causes such as missing skills, weak ownership, or ignored dependencies.
- Apply
Turning those causes into preventive actions makes hidden risks easier to discuss before work begins.
Why this matters
Hypothetical failure can make honest risk identification feel safer than criticizing a live plan.
Try this
Complete: ‘This failed because we…’
Test your recall
Which action best applies “Use a Pre-Mortem Before Starting”?
- Complete: ‘This failed because we…’ — correct
- Ask: Which single constraint currently limits the entire outcome?
- Map task dependencies, identify the current critical path, and review it whenever constraints change.
Hypothetical failure can make honest risk identification feel safer than criticizing a live plan.