Why ADHD Makes You Chase Bad Ideas (& how to stop it) episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 10, 2026 · 23 MIN

Why ADHD Makes You Chase Bad Ideas (& how to stop it)

from The ADHD Skills Lab · host Skye Waterson

You've launched things that seemed solid, only to watch them unravel for reasons that felt obvious afterward. That's not a judgment problem. For ADHD founders, retrospective clarity comes naturally. The pre-mortem is a tool that pulls that clarity forward, to the start of a project, when fixing problems is still cheap.Skye and Robbie break down the pre-mortem method, developed by cognitive psychologist Gary Klein and later popularized by Daniel Kahneman, and explain why it fits ADHD-wired brains in particular. ADHD founders tend to communicate broad vision without the full set of dependencies, leaving teams misaligned and triggering micromanagement loops. They're also prone to hyperfocused tunneling in the wrong direction. The pre-mortem interrupts both patterns before they cost you.They also cover how to use it as a minimum viable test. Before a prototype, before a hire, before a pivot, spend an afternoon stress-testing the idea. Sometimes the right output is: don't do this.What We CoverWhy ADHD founders naturally access retrospective clarity, and how to use it at project start instead of after the factHow incomplete vision communication creates micromanagement loops, and what the pre-mortem does to close that gapThe novelty bias and hyperfocus tunneling problem, and why planning for failure acts as a directional checkHow to run a pre-mortem solo, with a team, or with AI, including a specific reverse prompting approachWhy a half-day pre-mortem with AI or a mentor counts as your minimum viable test before any build P.S. Losing work because the admin layer around your business can't keep up with you? Invisible Systems is a 90-day done-for-you sprint where I (Skye) extract the processes from your head, build the operating layer, and find the right person to run it. Six spots left at the founding price, book a call at https://www.unconventionalorganisation.com/

You've launched things that seemed solid, only to watch them unravel for reasons that felt obvious afterward. That's not a judgment problem. For ADHD founders, retrospective clarity comes naturally. The pre-mortem is a tool that pulls that clarity forward, to the start of a project, when fixing problems is still cheap. Skye and Robbie break down the pre-mortem method, developed by cognitive psychologist Gary Klein and later popularized by Daniel Kahneman, and explain why it fits ADHD-wired br...

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Why ADHD Makes You Chase Bad Ideas (& how to stop it)

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This episode was published on June 10, 2026.

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You've launched things that seemed solid, only to watch them unravel for reasons that felt obvious afterward. That's not a judgment problem. For ADHD founders, retrospective clarity comes naturally. The pre-mortem is a tool that pulls that clarity...

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