Frequently asked questions about thinking, epistemology, and cognitive tools. 1675 answers
After a decision plays out review whether your framework served you well.
Choosing which framework to apply requires a meta-framework.
Choosing which framework to apply requires a meta-framework.
Choosing which framework to apply requires a meta-framework.
Choosing which framework to apply requires a meta-framework.
Choosing which framework to apply requires a meta-framework.
Choosing which framework to apply requires a meta-framework.
Choosing which framework to apply requires a meta-framework.
Choosing which framework to apply requires a meta-framework.
Choosing which framework to apply requires a meta-framework.
Select a real decision you are currently facing — something with at least moderate stakes. Write it down in one sentence. Now list every decision framework from Phase 23 that could plausibly apply: decision matrix, reversibility test, satisficing versus maximizing, regret minimization, opportunity.
The most common failure mode is framework lock-in — defaulting to the same decision framework for every decision regardless of fit. You learn the weighted decision matrix, it works well once, and now every decision gets a matrix. This is the meta-decision equivalent of the law of the instrument:.
Choosing which framework to apply requires a meta-framework.
When routine decisions are systematized your creative energy is preserved for novel problems.
When routine decisions are systematized your creative energy is preserved for novel problems.
When routine decisions are systematized your creative energy is preserved for novel problems.
When routine decisions are systematized your creative energy is preserved for novel problems.
When routine decisions are systematized your creative energy is preserved for novel problems.
When routine decisions are systematized your creative energy is preserved for novel problems.
Audit your last work week. List every decision you made — large and small. Categorize each as either 'routine' (you've made a similar decision before and could have used a framework) or 'novel' (genuinely required fresh thinking). Count the ratio. For most people, 70-85% of decisions are routine..
Systematizing everything, including the decisions that should stay open. You build frameworks for your creative process itself — which ideas to pursue, which aesthetic directions to explore, which risks to take. Your work becomes efficient and utterly predictable. The point of decision frameworks.
When routine decisions are systematized your creative energy is preserved for novel problems.
Any system that cannot observe its own output cannot improve.
Any system that cannot observe its own output cannot improve.