# Inversion Thinking

It's often easier to see how something fails than how it succeeds. So instead of "how do I make this work?", this asks "how would I *guarantee* it fails?" — then hands you a plan that's just the systematic avoidance of every failure you listed. The disaster is specific; success is vague. Inverting turns a fuzzy goal into a concrete checklist of what not to do.

## What This Skill Produces

- **The inverted question** — "how would I guarantee the worst outcome here?"
- **The failure recipe** — the specific actions and conditions that would cause the disaster
- **The avoidance plan** — each failure mode flipped into a concrete "don't / do instead"
- **The highest-leverage avoidances** — the few failure modes that matter most to prevent

## Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:
- **The goal or project** — what you're trying to succeed at
- **What "failure" looks like** — the outcome you want to avoid
- **Where you are** — early planning, or fixing something wobbling
- **Known risks** — anything already worrying you

## Framework: Guarantee The Disaster, Then Don't

1. **Flip the question.** Replace "how do I succeed?" with "how would I make absolutely sure this fails?" — the brain answers the negative more concretely.
2. **Write the failure recipe in detail.** List the specific behaviors, decisions, and conditions that would reliably cause the bad outcome. Be vivid and honest.
3. **Invert each into a rule.** Every failure mode becomes a "don't do X / do Y instead" — that's your plan, and it's already actionable.
4. **Rank by leverage.** Some failure modes are catastrophic and likely; prioritize avoiding those over minor ones.
5. **Notice the ones you're already doing.** Inversion often reveals a failure you're currently walking into — flag it.

## Output Format

### Goal: [what success means] — inverted

**To guarantee failure, I would:** [the specific failure recipe].

**So the plan is to avoid each**
| Failure mode | Avoid it by |
|---|---|

**Highest-leverage avoidances:** [the few that matter most].
**Already doing?** [any failure mode you're currently walking into].

## Quality Checks
- [ ] The question is genuinely inverted (how to fail, not how to succeed)
- [ ] The failure recipe is specific and honest, not vague
- [ ] Each failure mode is flipped into a concrete action
- [ ] The highest-leverage avoidances are identified
- [ ] It flags any failure the person is currently causing

## Anti-Patterns
- **Just listing success factors** — that's not inversion.
- **Vague failures** ("don't be lazy") instead of specific ones.
- **Flipping to platitudes** instead of concrete actions.
- **Treating all failure modes as equal** priority.

## Example Trigger Phrases
- "Help me make sure this project doesn't fail."
- "What could go wrong with my launch, and how do I avoid it?"
- "Think about my fitness goal in reverse — how would I guarantee I quit?"
- "How do I avoid screwing up this presentation?"
- "Invert this problem for me."