Principlev1

Use prospective hindsight (imagining future failure as past

Use prospective hindsight (imagining future failure as past event) to surface hidden assumptions more effectively than forward-looking risk analysis.

Why This Is a Principle

Grounded in Automatic Narrative Generation Precedes Conscious Evaluation (brain generates causal narratives automatically) and Belief Perseverance Against Contradictory Evidence (belief perseverance). The pre-mortem technique leverages automatic narrative generation while bypassing defensive reasoning—a general cognitive strategy.

Source Lessons

L-0186

Externalize your assumptions

Assumptions you never write down are assumptions you never question. Every plan, decision, and belief rests on invisible premises — and the invisible ones are the ones that destroy you.

Connections

Derived From (2)

AxiomAutomatic Narrative Generation Precedes Conscious Evaluation AxiomBelief Perseverance Against Contradictory Evidence

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