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Criterion
A hypothetical failure makes concrete risks, signals, and fitting mitigations visible.
Decision Making
Pre-Mortem
Paper illustration for TRIZ
Innovation
TRIZ
Paper illustration of an assumption matrix with prioritized test cards
Decision Making
Assumption Surfacing
Paper illustration for Contradiction Analysis.
Innovation
Contradiction Analysis
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.For technical contradictions or trade-offs, the method looks for solutions that resolve opposing requirements at the same time. It translates limits into an explicit picture of conflict that becomes workable. This produces not just compromises but more elegant principles.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 system should improve while another measure suffers as a result, the method makes the underlying conflict precisely formulable. It separates the desired effect from its side effect. This makes solutions possible that address the contradiction deliberately instead of half-heartedly.
Complexitydifferent
LowHighLowMedium
Timedifferent
20–45 min1-4 h45-90 min60-120 min
Participantsdifferent
Small cross-functional group2-82-82-8
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption logContradiction Statement, Inventive Principles, Solution ConceptsAssumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning PlanContradiction Statement, Abstraction Notes, Solution Principles, Concept Ideas
Tagsno overlap
RiskDecisionFailurePlanning
InnovationProblem solvingContradictionsCreativity
AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery
ContradictionsInnovationProblem solving
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