Case Study: Conducting a Pre-Mortem

Abstract

In this chapter, Ghez adapts the pre-mortem methodology and explains how it can help architects of change enhance their resilience and better deal with uncertainty in the business environment. In this two-step exercise, participants first consider very extreme scenario of bankruptcy, as well as the potential drivers that led there. This step helps them identify the forces that could undermine even the most successful companies. The second step lies in thinking about how the company could reinvent in order to not only hedge against these forces but perhaps even leverage them. The pre-mortem is an exercise architects of change must undertake on a continuous basis: it can be a very effective way to constantly reconsider avenues for reinvention.