Thinking & decisions21 categories
Quick pre-mortem
A plan you are about to commit to properly.
It is six months from now and this went badly. Write the three most likely stories of how, ranked by probability, one sentence each. Then tell me the single cheapest thing I could do this week to make the most likely one less likely. The plan:
Making it yours
- Paste your own material where the prompt asks for it. Everything above that line is instruction, not content.
- Delete any rule that does not apply to you. A shorter prompt that fits beats a thorough one that does not.
- If the answer comes back vague, add a line saying what you do not want. Constraints work better than encouragement.
Stress-testing a plan. Pre-mortems, arguing the other side, and following the consequences past the first order.
Related prompts
Run a pre-mortem on this planBefore committing to a plan that people are already enthusiastic about.Argue hard against the option I pickedWhen you have already chosen and want the case against before you announce it.What happens after the thing I want happens?Any change where the first-order effect is obvious and everyone stopped thinking there.Map who this decision lands onA change that will affect people who are not in the room when it is made.Argue the other sideWhen you have already decided and want the decision tested.What is the worst case?Anxiety about a decision you have not actually sized.
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