AGENTS/skills/brainstorming/references/thinking-frameworks.md

Thinking Frameworks

Use these when structured analysis adds value. Not every brainstorm needs a framework.

Pros/Cons Analysis

Best for: Binary decisions (do X or not, choose A or B)

Option	Pros	Cons
Option A	+ Advantage 1	- Disadvantage 1
	+ Advantage 2	- Disadvantage 2
Option B	+ Advantage 1	- Disadvantage 1
	+ Advantage 2	- Disadvantage 2

Tips:

• Weight factors by importance if not all equal
• Consider: Which cons are dealbreakers?
• Ask: What would make each option clearly better?

SWOT Analysis

Best for: Strategic assessment of a situation, project, or decision

	Helpful	Harmful
Internal	Strengths	Weaknesses
	What advantages do we have?	What could we improve?
	What do we do well?	Where do we lack resources?
External	Opportunities	Threats
	What trends could we exploit?	What obstacles exist?
	What gaps can we fill?	What is competition doing?

Action mapping:

• Build on strengths
• Address or mitigate weaknesses
• Capture opportunities
• Defend against threats

5 Whys

Best for: Finding root cause of a problem

Process:

1. State the problem: [What's happening?]
2. Why? → [First answer]
3. Why? → [Dig deeper]
4. Why? → [Keep going]
5. Why? → [Getting closer]
6. Why? → [Root cause]

Tips:

• Stop when you reach something actionable
• May take fewer or more than 5 iterations
• Multiple branches possible (multiple "whys" at each level)

Example:

Problem: Course launch didn't meet enrollment targets

Why? → Not enough people saw the launch
Why? → Email list is small
Why? → Haven't been building audience consistently
Why? → No content publishing schedule
Why? → Haven't prioritized content creation
→ Root cause: Need to establish content rhythm before next launch

How-Now-Wow Matrix

Best for: Prioritizing many ideas by feasibility and innovation

	Hard to Implement	Easy to Implement
Innovative	HOW (future investment)	WOW (prioritize these!)
Conventional	Why bother?	NOW (quick wins)

Quadrant actions:

• WOW: Innovative + Easy = Do these first, high impact
• NOW: Conventional + Easy = Quick wins, do soon
• HOW: Innovative + Hard = Save for later, plan carefully
• Why bother?: Conventional + Hard = Probably skip

Starbursting (6 Questions)

Best for: Comprehensive exploration of an idea or decision

Start with the idea in the center, then explore each question branch:

Who?

• Who is affected?
• Who will execute?
• Who decides?
• Who are stakeholders?

What?

• What exactly are we doing?
• What's the scope?
• What's the deliverable?
• What resources needed?

When?

• When does it start?
• When are milestones?
• When is the deadline?
• When do we review?

Where?

• Where does this happen?
• Where are resources?
• Where will it be deployed/shared?

Why?

• Why are we doing this?
• Why now?
• Why this approach?
• Why does it matter?

How?

• How will we execute?
• How will we measure success?
• How do we handle failures?
• How do we communicate progress?

Constraint Mapping

Best for: Understanding boundaries before generating solutions

Category	Constraints	Flexible?
Time	Deadline, available hours
Budget	Money available, cost limits
Resources	People, skills, tools
Technical	Platform, compatibility, performance
External	Regulations, dependencies, stakeholders
Preferences	Must-haves, nice-to-haves

For each constraint, note:

• Is it truly fixed or negotiable?
• What would change if we relaxed it?
• Are there creative workarounds?

When NOT to Use Frameworks

Skip frameworks when:

• The decision is simple or obvious
• Conversational exploration is working well
• Time is very limited
• The user just needs to talk through it

Default to conversation. Suggest frameworks only when they'd genuinely help structure complex thinking.