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| Criterion | ![]() Decision Making Pre-Mortem | ![]() Decision Making Assumption Surfacing | ![]() Innovation Brainstorming |
|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | In early initiatives with many uncertainties, planning quickly turns too optimistic. A pre-mortem makes the expected failure visible in advance and sharpens the view of causes, gaps, and countermeasures. | Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it. | When a team faces an open question with many obvious directions, the method first creates breadth instead of premature commitment. It separates idea flow from evaluation and makes lines of thought visible, creating a pool for selection and further development. |
Complexitysame | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 20–45 min | 45-90 min | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | Small cross-functional group | 2-8 | 4-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Idea pool, Theme clusters, Shortlist |
Tagsno overlap | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityWorkshopDivergence |
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