Pre-Mortem

Comment l'animer

1. 1

   Present the plan or project to the group.

2. 2

   Set the scene: 'Imagine it is one year from now. The project has failed — completely. What went wrong?'

3. 3

   Give participants 5 minutes to silently write as many failure causes as they can think of.

4. 4

   Each person shares their most important failure scenario.

5. 5

   Cluster similar failure modes on the board.

6. 6

   Discuss which risks are most likely or most impactful.

7. 7

   Identify preventive actions for the top risks and assign owners.

Conseils

• 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.

Variantes

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.