Imagine your project has failed spectacularly—then work backward to identify why. Apply Gary Klein's "prospective hindsight" technique to catch failures before they happen. Use when: **Before launching** a product, campaign, or major initiative; **Before making** an important decision (hiring, investment, partnership); **Starting a project** to identify risks the team hasn't considered; **When overconfident** and everyone agrees the plan is great; **Before committing resources** to a signific...
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What the file says
# Pre-Mortem
> Imagine your project has failed spectacularly—then work backward to identify why. Apply Gary Klein's "prospective hindsight" technique to catch failures before they happen.
## When to Use This Skill
- **Before launching** a product, campaign, or major initiative
- **Before making** an important decision (hiring, investment, partnership)
- **Starting a project** to identify risks the team hasn't considered
- **When overconfident** and everyone agrees the plan is great
- **Before committing resources** to a significant undertaking
- **In team planning** to surface concerns people might hesitate to share
## Methodology Foundation
| Aspect | Details |
|--------|---------|
| **Source** | Gary Klein (1989), cognitive psychologist, naturalistic decision making pioneer |
| **Expert** | Klein's research shows pre-mortems increase accuracy of identifying reasons for outcomes by 30% |
| **Core Principle** | "Prospective hindsight" - imagining an event has already occurred dramatically improves our ability to explain it. The future feels distant; the past feels real. |
## What Claude Does vs What You Decide
| Claude Does | You Decide |
|-------------|------------|
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