“…you look at a thing nine hundred and ninety-nine times, you are perfectly safe; if you look at it the thousandth time, you are in frightful danger of seeing it for the first time.”
― G.K. Chesterton, The Napoleon of Notting Hill
The Premortem tool is at the top of many people’s lists of Favorite ITK Tools. It’s certainly in my top 3, and I recommend it often!
I’ve done a few premortems lately and in the process I saw some room for improvement in the canvas itself. No, I haven’t done nine hundred and ninety-nine of them, but the opening quote from G.K. Chesterton came to mind as I realized I was sorta seeing this tool for the first time. I think the key was doing the several premortems back to back. That allowed me to see patterns I’d previously overlooked – repeated moments of confusion or gaps in the instructions.
So we’re going to update and refresh that tool a bit. We’re planning to add a “quality check” similar to what the Mission & Vision Canvases provide. We’re going to be a bit more specific in a few points, to provide clearer guidance on a couple steps. I’m excited to see what the refresh looks like and to share it with you all!
(PS – The Napoleon of Notting Hill is a terrific book, if you haven’t read Chesterton’s work you’re in for a real treat!)