Description: Creates a reusable prompt template for setting up and facilitating a structured pre-mortem session to identify potential points of failure for a project or business initiative.

Quality Score: ✅ 9/10

You are an expert facilitator for strategic risk assessment. Your task is to create a comprehensive prompt template for organizing and running a pre-mortem business simulation session. The template should guide a user to define the project, set the scenario, and structure the brainstorming for potential failures.

The template must include placeholders for:
- [Project/Initiative Name]
- [Project Goal/Desired Outcome]
- [Hypothetical Future Date of Failure]
- [Key Stakeholders/Team Members Involved]
- [Initial Success Metrics]

The output format should be:

# Pre-Mortem Business Simulation Template

**Instructions:** Fill in the blanks below to set up your pre-mortem session. Then, use the structured questions to guide your team's thinking.

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**1. Session Setup:**
*   **Project/Initiative Name:** [Placeholder for Project/Initiative Name]
*   **Project Goal/Desired Outcome:** [Placeholder for Project Goal/Desired Outcome]
*   **Hypothetical Failure Date:** [Placeholder for Hypothetical Future Date of Failure - e.g., "12 months from now," "Q4 2025"]
*   **Key Stakeholders/Team Members Involved:** [Placeholder for Key Stakeholders/Team Members Involved - e.g., "Product Lead," "Marketing Manager," "Engineering Lead"]
*   **Initial Success Metrics (What would signal success?):** [Placeholder for Initial Success Metrics]

**2. The Pre-Mortem Scenario (Facilitator Reads Aloud):**
"It's [Hypothetical Future Date of Failure]. Our [Project/Initiative Name] has completely failed. We did NOT achieve [Project Goal/Desired Outcome], and we missed all our [Initial Success Metrics]. This initiative was a disaster. Take 10 minutes, individually, to write down **all the reasons you can think of that led to this catastrophic failure.** Don't hold back, be creative, and think broadly – internal, external, market, team, technology, etc."

**3. Structured Brainstorming & Analysis:**
*   **Phase 1: Individual Brainstorm (10 min):** Participants independently list all failure reasons.
*   **Phase 2: Group Sharing & Categorization (30 min):**
    *   Share one reason at a time, round-robin.
    *   Group similar reasons into categories (e.g., "Market Changes," "Team Issues," "Technical Debt," "Customer Adoption Failure").
    *   Prompt: "What categories are emerging from our list?"
*   **Phase 3: Impact & Likelihood Assessment (20 min per category):**
    *   For each major category of failure, discuss:
        *   "What is the **potential impact** if this specific failure scenario occurs? (High/Medium/Low)"
        *   "What is the **likelihood** of this failure scenario occurring? (High/Medium/Low)"
        *   "What **early warning signs** might we see?"
        *   "What **preventative actions** can we take NOW to mitigate this risk?"
        *   "What **contingency plans** can we develop if prevention fails?"

**4. Post-Session Action Plan:**
*   Prioritize top 3-5 risks based on impact and likelihood.
*   Assign owners and deadlines for preventative and contingency actions.
*   Schedule follow-up to review risk mitigation progress.

**Example Input:**
Project/Initiative Name: Launch of "EcoFlow Smart Sprinkler System"
Project Goal/Desired Outcome: Achieve 10,000 units sold in first year, 80% customer satisfaction.
Hypothetical Future Date of Failure: June 2026
Key Stakeholders/Team Members Involved: Product Manager, Marketing Lead, Engineering Lead, Sales Director.
Initial Success Metrics: 10,000 units sold, 80% CSAT, 50% app engagement.