DecisionIntermediate

Pre-Mortem

Developed by psychologist Gary Klein, the Pre-Mortem asks teams to imagine that a project has already failed — then work backwards to identify what went wrong. By adopting a future failure mindset before starting, teams surface risks, blind spots, and assumptions they would otherwise overlook. It's one of the most effective ways to stress-test a plan.

Duration

30m–1h

Group size

3–20 people

Materials

sticky notes, markers, whiteboard

Origin

Community

How to run it

1
Present the plan or project to the group.
2
Set the scene: 'Imagine it is one year from now. The project has failed — completely. What went wrong?'
3
Give participants 5 minutes to silently write as many failure causes as they can think of.
4
Each person shares their most important failure scenario.
5
Cluster similar failure modes on the board.
6
Discuss which risks are most likely or most impactful.
7
Identify preventive actions for the top risks and assign owners.

Tips

The failure framing is key — it grants permission to be pessimistic without being seen as a blocker.
Make it clear this is not about blame, it's about smart planning.
The facilitator should actively encourage the darkest scenarios.

Variations

Run a 'Pre-Parade' alongside it: 'Imagine the project succeeded beyond all expectations. What made it work?' This gives you both the risks and the success conditions.

Where it fits

Project kick-offsStrategy planningProduct launchesMajor change initiatives

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Method descriptions on Workshop Weaver are original content written by our team, based on established facilitation practices.