Strategy Toolkit: The Premortem

In this toolkit episode of Now Go Create, Claire Bridges introduces the concept of the premortem, a powerful technique for anticipating project pitfalls before they derail your ideas. Drawing from her extensive experience in creative thinking and strategy development, Claire demonstrates how asking the right questions early can transform uncertainty into opportunity and help teams avoid costly missteps. Clare shares real-world examples from organisations including Google, Stripe, Pixar, and Netflix, illustrating how pre-mortems foster honest feedback and more robust creative outcomes. You’ll learn practical steps to run your own pre-mortem, alongside insights into building resilience and healthy collaboration in creative projects. Key Takeaways: Many projects fail from overlooked risks, not the initial idea. Premortems give permission to voice concerns without negativity. Run premortems when ideas are solid, not in their early stages. The process helps surface hidden assumptions and blind spots. Use individual reflection before group discussion for unbiased input. Pixar and Netflix embed radical candour and continuous feedback in their cultures. Brain trusts provide expert peer feedback, helping refine ideas without hierarchy. Something to Try: Before your next project goes live, gather your team and run a pre-mortem. Imagine your project has failed six months down the line, and ask everyone to individually list reasons why it might have happened. Then, share and discuss the risks together, prioritise the most serious ones, and brainstorm ways to prevent them. Finish with a reflection on what you learned. This could be the critical step that takes your idea from good to great. About Claire Bridges: Claire Bridges is Chief Spark and Founder of leading creative training consultancy Now Go Create, whose philosophy is that everyone can be creative. Claire worked as a PR agency Managing Director and Creative Director working with global brands including Starbucks, Kellogg’s, Unilever, P&G and Danone in her previous PR career. Upskilling individuals, teams and organisations with practical creativity tools is Claire’s mission. She’s one of only 250 people globally to hold an MSc in Creativity, Leadership & Innovation, and authored an Amazon best-selling creative handbook In Your Creative Element based on her academic studies. Claire and her hand-picked team of experts have worked on thousands of creative projects and trained over 50,000 people around the world since starting Now Go Create in 2011. Connect with Claire: Website: https://nowgocreate.co.uk/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowgocreate/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NowGoCreate LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/claire-bridges-b6205b14 Produced by winteraudio.co.uk