Cognitive Scaffold

Preparing your thinking workspace

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MENTAL MODEL · M12825

Pre-mortem

Pre-mortem
BusinessHigh supportManagement
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

Assume the project has already failed, and work backward to analyze "what caused the failure," identifying potential risks before the project starts.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Infer risks from failure. More effective than asking "what could go wrong"—assuming the problem has already occurred stimulates more honest risk identification. (Merged: Pre-mortem)

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Assume the project has failed, and reason backward to identify causes, bypassing the defensive psychology of "error prevention," stimulating more honest and specific risk imagination; psychological distance allows the team to dare to mention hidden dangers they would not normally say.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Practice this model in one real situation:

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Source support: Explicit

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    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-mortemZH · Explicit
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