Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: e9994b867b76745102b7598f39ea4808ca718f1bdeb4f506727f1d25782c3dde

# Pre-Mortem

Participants assume a planned project has already failed catastrophically, write down the specific causes of that failure, and agree on actions to mitigate the top risks.

**Time:** 50 minutes. UWT suggested duration for a robust kickoff session; source notes up to 5 minutes per participant.
**People:** 4 to 24. Solo reflection followed by table groups of 3 to 5 participants, then whole-group prioritization. For odd numbers, partition to maintain 3 to 5 people per group (for example, 13 divides into groups of 4, 4, and 5).

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Identify unspoken project risks and preventative actions before execution begins.
**Use it when:** Use at project kickoff after plans and goals are established, when optimism may suppress concerns.
**Skip it when:** Skip when the core project plan or goals have not yet been defined, or when team members lack context on the work.

## Materials and tools

- Project plan, key scope points, and timeline (printed posters or projected slides)
- Sticky notes (1 pad per participant)
- Broad-tip felt pens (1 per participant)
- Whiteboard or flip chart paper (2 sheets per subgroup)
- Voting dot stickers (3 dots per participant)
- Adhesive tape if using flip charts without sticky backing
- Digital timer (1 for facilitator)

## Before participants arrive

1. Post the project plan, key scope points, and timeline visibly in the room.
2. Distribute sticky notes and pens to each seat.
3. Designate wall or whiteboard space divided into: Failure Stories, Themed Risks, and Priority Actions.
4. For remote sessions, prepare a digital whiteboard with pre-made columns (Imagined Failures, Clustered Themes, Action Plan) and configure digital voting for 3 votes per person.
5. For hybrid sessions, designate and brief an assistant or participant scribe to mirror in-person sticky notes onto the shared digital board.

## Say this to open

Welcome. We have our plan in place, but projects often learn what went wrong only after a disaster. Today, we are going to look backward from an imagined future. Assume it is twelve months from now, and this initiative has failed completely. Your job right now is to write down the exact reasons why it fell apart.

## How to run it

### 1. Set the failure scenario (5 minutes)

Explain the scenario clearly using the opening script. State a hypothetical future date. Prompt everyone: 'Imagine the project has ended in total disaster. What caused it?' Check that everyone understands they are explaining a completed failure, not listing general worries.

### 2. Silent individual brainstorming (7 minutes)

Participants write one failure cause per sticky note in silence. Provide a neutral example: 'Key vendor missed their delivery window by eight weeks, blocking integration.' Participants may write as many notes as needed or keep notes private if preferred.

### 3. Subgroup sharing and clustering (15 minutes)

In table groups of 3 to 5, each participant selects their top 3 failure causes to read aloud and post onto their subgroup flip chart. Subgroups group similar risks together under clear, written theme headers.

### 4. Prioritize risks (8 minutes)

Subgroups bring their theme headers and key notes to the central wall. Give each participant 3 dot stickers. Participants place dots on the risks they consider most probable and damaging. Anyone may pass by not placing dots.

### 5. Define preventative actions (15 minutes)

Focus on the top two or three prioritized risks. For each risk, the full group agrees on one concrete preventative action, an immediate deadline, and a designated owner. Record these directly into project tracking notes.


## Debrief questions

- Which risks surprised you by appearing across multiple groups?
- What assumptions in our original plan need adjustment before we launch?

**Finished output:** A prioritized list of project failure risks with assigned preventative actions and designated owners.

## Remote

Use a digital whiteboard with pre-configured columns: Imagined Failures, Clustered Themes, Action Plan. Step 1 runs in the main video room. Step 2 is silent typing on digital notes. Step 3 runs in breakout rooms of 3 to 5 people where each person presents their top 3 notes. Step 4 uses built-in digital voting features (3 votes per person). Step 5 convenes in the main room to agree on actions and owners in a shared document.

## Hybrid

In-person groups post physical sticky notes while the designated scribe mirrors them onto the shared digital board displayed on the room screen. Remote participants add digital notes directly. Group clustering is projected in the room. Dot voting takes place entirely on the digital board so both remote and in-room participants cast votes under identical conditions.

## Access and participation choices

- Offer typed or spoken contributions during small-group clustering for participants who prefer not to handwrite.
- Participants may pass their turn during group sharing or abstain from voting without justification.

## If the session gets stuck

**Participants list vague issues like 'bad communication' instead of concrete failure events.**

Ask: 'What specific action or missed deadline caused the breakdown? Write the exact event that happened.'

**The exercise turns into blaming specific team members or outside partners.**

Intervene immediately and redirect focus toward process steps, systemic risks, and environmental dependencies rather than individual names.


## Terms used here

- Post-Mortem: An analysis conducted after a project has finished or failed to review what happened.
- Pre-Mortem: A strategy session before launch that assumes the initiative has already failed, identifying risks to prevent them.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Gamestorming, which notes the method's ultimate source is unknown and compares it to Luke Hohmann's Innovation Game 'Remember the Future'. Also referenced in Atlassian and Miro playbooks.

Retained the core Gamestorming mechanic of assuming project disaster, generating failure points, voting/ranking, and deciding mitigation actions. Expanded total time to 50 minutes to allow adequate time for subgroup sharing (15 minutes) and action planning (15 minutes). Added explicit partition guidance for odd group sizes, remote board preparation steps, and hybrid scribe briefing.

[Gamestorming](https://gamestorming.com/pre-mortem)

[Gamestorming](https://gamestorming.com/pre-mortem/)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/pre-mortem/