Prompt Library
Strategy prompt
Pre-mortem: assume the launch failed
Gary Klein's method: imagine it's six months later and the project died, then fix every cause before launch.
How it helps
You get the failure scenarios in detail, when each one would hit, and one preventive move for each before launch.
How to use it
- Copy the prompt below.
- Swap each [bracket] for your own details. The more specific you are, the better the answer.
- Paste it into Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini and send it.
The prompt
I'm about to launch something in my [alcohol beverage business] and I want you to run a Pre-Mortem Analysis using Gary Klein's method. Here is how it works: it is 6 months from now and this project has failed completely. Dead. Work backwards and tell me every plausible reason it died. Be industry-specific: distribution, compliance, trade response, consumer reception, pricing, packaging, team execution, timing, supply chain, weather/vintage, competitive response. Do not give me generic risks like 'poor execution.' Give me scenario-level detail. What went wrong, when in the timeline, and why I did not see it coming. Then, for each failure scenario, give me one preventive action I can take right now, before launch. My project: [DESCRIBE YOUR UPCOMING PROJECT OR LAUNCH]
What you fill in
- alcohol beverage business
- DESCRIBE YOUR UPCOMING PROJECT OR LAUNCH
More strategy prompts
See every promptClaude, ChatGPT, or GeminiFirst principles thinking for a stuck problemStrip a problem down to what is actually true and rebuild the answer, instead of copying what everyone else does.Claude, ChatGPT, or GeminiInversion: list every way this could failCharlie Munger's tool: find every realistic way an initiative dies, then turn each into a preventive action.Claude, ChatGPT, or GeminiThe 5 Whys: find the real root causeToyota's method for getting past the symptom to something structural you can actually fix.