Performing a Project Premortem
Performing a Project Premortem is a journal article by Gary Klein (2008 in its publication record; cited on IX Coach as 2007), published in IEEE Engineering Management Review. IX Coach's practice library cites it in 13 practices across 13 concepts; each one is listed below, so you can see exactly where this journal article is put to use.
Where to find it
Practices on IX Coach that cite Performing a Project Premortem
- Define your nightmare outcome before your ideal outcome
Write a vivid description of the life you don’t want — this clarifies the anti-goals that protect you from sleepwalking into it.
Anti-Goals: Defining Success by What You Refuse to Accept
- Ask 'What am I missing?' before major decisions
Treat a confident feeling before a high-stakes decision as a cue to check what your competence map is omitting.
Circle of Competence
- Run a pre-mortem to interrupt forward narrative construction
Before committing to a plan, imagine it failed completely — then generate the most plausible story of why.
The Narrative Fallacy: Why We Can’t Stop Making Stories
- Run a pre-mortem from the outside-view perspective
Imagine the project has failed — then ask which base-rate failure type caused it.
The Outside View
- Run the basic pre-mortem
Assume the plan failed, then have everyone write down why.
The Pre-Mortem: Imagine It Already Failed
- Steelman objections to your own plans
Before committing to a plan, state the strongest case against it in its most compelling form.
Steelmanning
- Map the argument before you commit to a decision
Create a quick argument map as a pre-commitment check on major decisions.
Argument Mapping
- Run a pre-mortem before committing to a plan
Imagine the plan has already failed and ask what went wrong.
Confirmation Bias: Seeing What You Expect to See
- Use feedforward to align team members on goals before projects begin
At the start of a project, invite feedforward on how to succeed — before any performance to critique.
Feedforward: Future-Focused Feedback That Actually Changes Behavior
- Run a pre-mortem before you start
Before a project begins, ask: assume it failed — what went wrong?
Hindsight Bias: Why Everything Seems Obvious in Retrospect
- Reverse brainstorm: solve the opposite problem first
Ask "How would we guarantee the worst possible outcome?" — then invert every answer.
Lateral Thinking, Made Practical
- Use inversion as the first model in every problem
Before solving a problem, ask what would guarantee failure — then avoid those things.
Mental Models: Charlie Munger’s Latticework Approach
- Black hat: identify risks and why something could fail
Apply the most rigorous critical scrutiny to the idea — the black hat is the voice of caution and evidence-based pessimism.
Six Thinking Hats, Made Practical
How this page was checked
- The citation was matched to its Crossref record, and the title, authors and year above are taken from that record — not written by us.
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