Inversion Thinking
Instead of thinking about positive outcomes (assuming everything will turn out right), turn the process on its head by thinking what could go wrong and cause you to fail so you know what and who to avoid to maximize your chance of success or at least not being surprised so you’re able to make contingency plans ahead of time to compensate
You need to also do the more conventional process of thinking so you actually have an affirmative plan but it helps to know where all the mines are buried (like Minesweeper)
The definition given is almost word for word the definition of an engineering mindset, regardless of field.
I’d say it’s not a bad way to think about your life as well, as long as you limit the scope to things you realistically have the ability to impact and focus most of your energy on the actual problem solving.
I am getting so jaded with engineering these days. The engineering mindset seems to be to stifle all innovation and have endless meetings.