The Pre-Mortem Framework

"If you do a pre-mortem right, you will not have to do an ugly post-mortem." — Shreyas Doshi

What It Is

Instead of waiting for a post-mortem after a failure, the team imagines the project has already failed spectacularly in the future and works backward to determine why. This uncovers hidden risks that polite corporate culture usually suppresses.

When To Use

• Before kicking off any major initiative
• Prior to product launch or high-stakes project
• When team has optimism bias or is avoiding hard conversations
• To create psychological safety for voicing concerns

Core Principles

1. The Prompt

Start by stating: "Imagine it is 6 months from now and this project has failed miserably."