Page 39 · Module 01, Think Like a Strategist · this screen continues that page
All 108 frameworksInversion Thinking
ou want to stress-test a plan before committing to it. Forward thinking hasn't revealed the
The prompt
Copy & paste readyLabelsReplace theseSwap the role below
Pro tip, from the book
Share the failure list with your team before launch. Ask each person to add one item you missed. The combined list will contain at least one thing that would have actually stopped you and now it won't.
Who should run this prompt
Module role profileWho should reason through this problem? The quality of your thinking is shaped by whose lens you borrow. A strategist and a risk analyst look at the same problem and see completely different things — both useful, both necessary. Before you prompt, choose who you need in the room. These profiles give you six internal perspectives and four outside views that challenge your assumptions before you commit to them.
Choose any role to drop it into the prompt above. Only the highlighted opening clause changes — the rest of the prompt stays exactly as printed.
◆◆◆◆◆ → ◆ seniority, board level down to specialist◈ outside the organisation
How to make any role sharper
- Add years of experience: "...with 15 years in enterprise SaaS" produces different depth than just the title.
- Add what they care most about: "You care most about [X]" shapes every word of the output.
- Add their communication style: "Be direct. Flag risks first. No jargon." changes the tone entirely.
Use this when
The problem it solvesproblems. You need a completely different angle of attack.
How the framework works
From the printed pageInversion means solving a problem backwards. Instead of 'how do I succeed?' you ask 'what would guarantee I fail?' Then systematically avoid everything on that list. Charlie Munger called it one of the most useful thinking tools he knew. It surfaces risks that positive thinking consistently misses. Listing paths to failure is concrete and finite, while listing paths to success is easy to fool yourself with. The founders who last usually wrote the failure list first and took it seriously.
The method, in four moves
Do these in orderDefine what you're trying to achieve be specific.
Ask AI to list everything that would guarantee you fail at that goal.
Review honestly. Cross off what you've already mitigated.
For everything remaining, build one prevention action each. What would guarantee failure? Now avoid that. Charlie Munger built Berkshire Hathaway's risk culture around inversion. Before every major investment, the team asked: 'What would guarantee we lose money here?' That list of failure conditions became the due diligence checklist. Not pessimism precision. Most investors ask 'why will this work?' Munger asked 'what would make this fail?' first. IN PRACTICE
Where the framework comes from
Charlie Munger, Poor Charlie's Almanack, 2005
Pairs well with
As printed with this frameworkModule 01 — Think Like a Strategist
Learn to work with AI. Then learn to think. Both are non-negotiable.
13 frameworks, printed on pages 22–47.
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