Working Backwards
Define what done looks like and the evidence that would prove it, then walk back to now, so every step exists because the one after it needs it.
Best for a Project, a Goal · Amazon, early 2000s · takes an hour, then revisits
How to run it
- Write done as a state of the world, not an activity, dated in the future, as a stranger would report it. Name who would have to agree it is done.
- List the evidence that would prove it. Numbers where there are numbers. Something a person outside the work could point at.
- Write the questions a sceptic would ask. How much did it cost? What went wrong? Why hasn’t someone done this already? Answer each honestly, and notice which you can’t.
- Now walk back. What has to be true just before that ending? Write it as something that has become true, say how you would see it, and say what must already be true just before it.
- Keep walking until the chain touches today. Then say honestly where you actually are, which is rarely where the chain assumed.
- Name the first move, the one you could make this week from exactly here, and write down what the chain still assumes.
Where it falls down. It is only as good as the honesty of the ending.
With a pen
What done looks likeA state of the world, dated. Who says it is done. The evidence that would prove it
Milestone: the week beforeTrue at this point / how you’d see it / what must already be true just before
Milestone: before thatSame three questions. Fixed, target or undated?
Milestone: before thatKeep walking until it touches today
Where you actually areAnd what the chain still assumes
The first move, this week