Premortem vs Postmortem : Fixing problems before they occur

Usually when a project wraps up, a postmortem exercise is done with the goal to anlayze what went well and what went wrong. Quite useful, but only as a learning for projects that are coming up, not for the one just completed.

So what about being preventive rather than reactive? Why note do an exercise in anticipating a project weaknesses? That's what Gary Klein calls a Premortem:

"A premortem works like this: When a team gathers to kick off a new project, people conclude the meeting by pretending to gaze into a crystal ball. They look six months into the future, and the news is not good. Despite their hopes, the project has failed. Then team members take three minutes to run a mental simulation. They write down why they think their work derailed. All sorts of reasons emerge."

Read the rest of the article on Gary Klein [ Fastcompany.com ]


Picture: Walters Schels and Beate Lakotta, "Heiner Schmitz"