> Term
premortem
A meeting or document predicting how a project might fail before it is launched.
Detailed Explanation
A premortem assumes that a project has already failed spectacularly and tasks the team with working backward to figure out why. This helps teams identify and mitigate risks that they might otherwise ignore due to overconfidence or optimism during the planning phase.
Why It Matters
It shifts the team's mindset from defending a plan to actively finding its weak points, uncovering hidden assumptions and external dependencies before they become production outages.
Common Failure Mode
Practical Example
Production Manifestation
A documented list of potential failure modes and mitigation strategies created before a single line of code reaches production, often leading to architectural changes or shifted priorities.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is premortem in short?
A meeting or document predicting how a project might fail before it is launched.
What is the most common failure mode?
Turning the meeting into a pessimistic complaint session or merely listing risks without actually assigning owners to mitigate them.
AI Summary
A meeting or document predicting how a project might fail before it is launched. It shifts the team's mindset from defending a plan to actively finding its weak points, uncovering hidden assumptions and external dependencies before they become production outages.