In this thread, we’ll look at the “what” and “how” of pre-mortems, along with a novel technique of using “Tigers”, “Paper Tigers”, and “Elephants” to run effective pre-mortems.pic.twitter.com/AL2sT6yqav
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I’ll now share a modified pre-mortem script that has worked well on the teams I’ve worked with. As background, at Stripe, the teams I’ve led have regularly run pre-mortems for our products, particularly major product launches (e.g. Stripe Connect, Stripe Terminal).
And while we haven’t been 100% mistake-free, pre-mortems have enabled “calm product launches” and enhanced team productivity & morale.
Why change the standard pre-mortem script? In my experience, the standard pre-mortem meeting was very engaging *while* the team was in the room.
But how many times have you had an engaging meeting and then people leave the room and everybody forgets about it and reverts to old patterns?
That’s what I saw repeatedly when we employed the standard script. So, I began looking for ways to change that.
I wanted the team to A. be spotting major problems, and B. surface those problems up to other team members *throughout the lifecycle of the project*, not just at that one pre-mortem meeting.
What was missing, I realized, was an evocative, convenient lexicon that allowed people to talk about these things in a psychologically safe manner. Related: I learned quite late in my career the tremendous benefits of giving your team a context-specific lexicon. Don’t be me.
The way I like to run pre-mortems now is to ask them to list out their concerns about the project in 3 different categories:
Why are you not worried about a Paper Tiger (even though others might be)? Usually because you’re responsible for the said area and have strong conviction that the ostensible Tiger is fully under control. You’ve got it!
An Elephant might not be a threat per se, but it’s the thing you’re worried no one is talking about. It’s the “elephant in the room”.
So, with this lexicon, here’s how I recommend running a pre-mortem meeting:
During the context setting part, I introduce the pre-mortem concept (it’s always *someone’s* first pre-mortem) and ask everyone on the team to come up with: 2 Tigers (at least), and any Paper Tigers and Elephants they can think of.
There is absolutely no talking during this time. Quiet time! It’s amazing how long & productive a 10 minute stretch of silence can be in a meeting, when no one is talking.
After that, there’s another 10 minutes of Quiet time. During this time, people read everyone else’s Tigers, Paper Tigers, and Elephants. And they get to +1 others’ Tigers, Paper Tigers, and Elephants. Each person can give up to five +1s. So you need to be quite selective.pic.twitter.com/k2oSHFr9hy
Btw, this is all being done in a shared Google doc or a Dropbox Paper doc. One advantage of Paper being that you can easily see who wrote what.
And then, Quiet time is over. You go around the room, and people share their observations (e.g. what Tiger resonated the most, what they found surprising, etc.)
And, as the facilitator, you wrap the meeting up by summarizing the top themes that have emerged from the pre-mortem and sharing what people can expect next.pic.twitter.com/V2KSmkKBCq
So, what’s next? It’s the most important part of the entire process. The pre-mortem action plan. As the facilitator, you prioritize the top N Tigers / Elephants that emerged from the pre-mortem exercise.pic.twitter.com/qB8JdjJkmX
You create a document that summarizes the action plan and share it with the team for commentary. Here’s a hypothetical example:pic.twitter.com/9japrYgTaK
Note that your goal isn’t to list *every possible problem* in the action plan. You must focus on the major problems (i.e. the deadliest Tigers), and be fine with living with the minor ones.
You cannot (and should not) fix all problems because you don’t want progress to grind to a halt. But more importantly, I’ll observe that solving one problem often creates a different problem.
So you’ve got to have clarity on which problems you’re willing to live with and which ones you can’t live with. (this is perhaps applicable outside of one's work life too)
Also note that it’s important to list the verbatim Tigers and Elephants (as in column 2), since it reassures team members that their *direct input* was useful. Every item must have a single Directly Responsible Individual (DRI). (they can of course delegate, as appropriate)pic.twitter.com/9SIqvVGDjw
And the last column lists the proposed mitigating actions, in priority order, that will *reduce the chances* of the problem occurring, OR will *limit its negative impact* if it does occur.pic.twitter.com/6re4gZluix
Once you’ve reviewed the action plan with the team, make sure that you track progress against the action plan during the rest of the life of the project.
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