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Agile Inception Deck

A set of ten structured questions that help a team build shared understanding before a project begins — developed by Jonathan Rasmusson. Used to align stakeholders, set realistic expectations, and surface the most important risks before a line of code is written or a workshop is designed. More lightweight than a formal project charter, more thorough than a kickoff meeting.

Duration
4h–8h
Group size
4–12 people
Materials
Whiteboard or large wall, Sticky notes, Markers…
Origin
Workshop Weaver

How to run it

  1. 1

    Block a half-day with the full team and key stakeholders.

  2. 2

    Work through the ten inception questions together:

  3. 3

    1. Why are we here? (the elevator pitch)

  4. 4

    2. Create an elevator pitch (who / for / who / unlike / our product / does)

  5. 5

    3. Design a product box: what would make someone pick this off a shelf?

  6. 6

    4. Create a NOT list: what's explicitly out of scope?

  7. 7

    5. Meet your neighbours: who are all the people and systems we interact with?

  8. 8

    6. Show the solution: draw a high-level architecture or workflow

  9. 9

    7. Ask what keeps us up at night: top 3 risks, honestly

  10. 10

    8. Size it up: rough estimate of timeline and cost

  11. 11

    9. Be clear on what's going to give: quality, scope, time, or budget?

  12. 12

    10. Show what it's going to take: the team composition needed

  13. 13

    Capture outputs on one-page per question. Review together at the end.

Tips

  • The NOT list (question 4) is the most underrated — it prevents scope creep before it starts.

  • Question 7 (what keeps us up at night) requires psychological safety. Go last if needed.

  • Don't rush. The discomfort of answering these hard questions before the project starts is the point.

  • Revisit the inception deck at every major milestone — not just at the start.

Variations

Lean Inception: a 5-day workshop version by Paulo Caroli for complex products. Mini Inception: just questions 1, 4, and 7 for smaller projects.

Where it fits

Project kick-offStakeholder alignmentNew product developmentAgency project start

Related methods

FacilitationDefinition of Done Workshop
DecisionPre-Mortem
FacilitationSprint Planning
Team BuildingWorking Agreements
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Method descriptions on Workshop Weaver are original content written by our team, based on established facilitation practices. This method was inspired by work from Workshop Weaver.

Agile Inception Deck — Facilitation Method | Workshop Weaver