We’ve all heard of postmortem. It’s usually associated with homicide which gives the word its grim aura. But what about premortem? Before getting into it, let’s think of the times you’ve failed in life. How many times have you thought that if you had done things differently, the outcome could’ve been different? It is something that applies to every sphere of life, be it personal, social, career, or business. That’s where premortem analysis comes in.  What is Premortem Analysis?  Growing up, we’ve all heard “Prevention is better than cure”. It essentially signifies that it is important to identify and consider potential failures before doing something as it reduces the chance of failure.  Premortem analysis is a strategic planning technique used to identify potential risks and pitfalls in a project, decision, or course of action before it is implemented. It is the opposite of postmortem analysis which works to understand what went wrong after the conclusion of a project.  Read more: What is Your Desired Salary? How to Answer Recruitment’s Trickiest Question Ways to Anticipate Failure by Premortem Analysis It's easy to look back and see what went wrong in the process. But the same isn’t true when it comes to anticipating failure. It requires rigorous work with precedence, potential scenarios, and alternatives to assess the risk level and ways to mitigate it.  To better illustrate the steps of premortem analysis, let us consider a retail company called Terry’s Grocery. Terry’s Grocery wants to open a new location in a new city. Here’s what an ideal premortem analysis of the store would look like.