Pre-mortem can help Jim avoid the ‘ifs and buts’

In business you make decisions which are often measurable as success by a revenue return.

When deciding on a tender submission you may expect a reward based on past performance, relationships or maybe you wish to compete on cost benefit. But whatever decision you make it often has a way of biting you on the behind when the tender is unsuccessfully awarded. You perform a post-mortem, discuss the ‘ifs and buts’, and disseminate the blame throughout the team.

A better way of ensuring a successful outcome is to perform a pre-mortem. When your proposal is completed but prior to submission take a moment to project your mind forward, assume you were unsuccessful, and then ask yourself why? It may create an interesting discussion and possibly inform or amend the pending submission.