pre-mortem

name	pre-mortem
description	Use before launching a plan, project, deal, or change when failure modes should be surfaced early. Use when applying the Pre Mortem consulting method and when a user asks for Pre Mortem, method execution, structured diagnosis, or action planning.
license	Apache-2.0

Pre Mortem

Use this skill to run Pre Mortem as a practical consulting method, not as a generic framework explanation.

Method Notes

• Use prospective hindsight: assume the plan failed, then explain why.
• Convert failure causes into prevention actions and early warnings.

Required Inputs

Collect or infer these inputs before execution:

• planned action
• success criteria
• timeline
• stakeholders
• known risks

If an input is missing, do not block automatically. Mark it as missing, state the assumption used, and add a validation action.

When Not To Use

Do not use after a failure has already occurred; use root-cause analysis instead. A pre-mortem requires a specific plan and time horizon, not a generic list of things that might go wrong.

Adjacent Methods

• risk-matrix: prioritize known risk events after they are identified.
• scenario-planning: compare plausible external futures, not failure causes of one plan.

Step-by-Step Execution

Step	Required input	How to execute	Output
Describe plan	Plan, launch date, success criteria.	State the plan as if the team believes it will work.	Plan frame.
Assume failure	Future date and failed outcome.	Write a short future failure narrative.	Failure scenario.
Generate causes	Team concerns, dependencies, assumptions.	List plausible reasons the plan failed.	Failure cause list.
Prioritize preventable causes	Cause list, likelihood, impact, controllability.	Pick the causes worth preventing now.	Priority failure modes.
Design prevention	Priority causes.	Define prevention actions, early warnings, owners, and contingencies.	Pre-mortem action plan.

Output Template

### 1. Plan And Failure Horizon
Plan:
Launch / decision date:
Assumed failure date:
Success definition:

### 2. Failure Narrative
The plan failed because:
Observed consequences:
Earliest warning:

### 3. Failure Modes
| Failure mode | Cause | Preventability | Evidence | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|  |  |  |  |  |

### 4. Prevention Plan
| Prevention / contingency | Owner | Timing | Trigger |
|---|---|---|---|
|  |  |  |  |

### Evidence And Next Decision
- Confirmed facts:
- Assumptions:
- Missing evidence:
- Next action, owner, and timing:
- Expected signal and decision threshold:

Quality Gate

• Produce the method-specific outputs for Plan And Failure Horizon, Failure Narrative, Failure Modes; do not substitute a generic framework summary.
• Tie every material score, causal claim, or stakeholder judgment to evidence or label it as an assumption.
• Include at least one disconfirming check, sensitivity, alternative explanation, or failure condition appropriate to the method.
• Convert the result into a named action or decision with an owner or stakeholder, timing, and observable signal.
• State missing inputs and the smallest validation action instead of inventing precision.
• Keep wording professional and plain enough that a smart non-specialist can use the output directly.