MENTAL MODEL · M0018

Pre-mortem

DecideHigh supportDecision Science

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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

Gary Klein’s project premortem asks a team, before a project begins, to imagine it has failed, independently suggest possible causes, and discuss changes to the plan. Here, post-mortem means a retrospective or after-event analysis, rather than hindsight-based criticism.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Create explicit space for concerns and turn vague worries into checkable risks and preventive actions. It can complement conventional risk assessment without being assumed superior in every setting.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Changing “Will the project fail?” to “Assume it has failed—why?” invites concerns that participants might otherwise hesitate to express. The exercise elicits possible risks; prevention still depends on subsequent verification and action.

MINIMUM ACTION

In progress 0/1

Practice this model in one real situation:

Before the project decision, have each member independently write possible causes of imagined failure, then collect them in turn. Anonymous collection is optional. Select key risks, assign an owner, preventive action, and review date to each, and update the plan.

Check to track your progress (stored locally)

Learning progress0%

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Source support: Explicit

link
hbrtaiwan.comhttps://www.hbrtaiwan.com/article/10546/performing-a-project-premortemZH · Explicit
verified
link
hbr.orghttps://hbr.org/2007/09/performing-a-project-premortemEN
verified

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