Thinking Frameworks

Objective

Provide a unified set of thinking frameworks that help with strategic thinking, prioritization, and problem analysis. These frameworks enable structured and multi-perspective thinking for any task, problem, or decision.

1. The specific challenge or decision you're facing
2. Your current context (technical, business, personal, etc.)
3. What outcome you're trying to achieve
4. Any constraints or considerations (time, resources, priorities)

Based on your description, I'll select the most appropriate framework(s) to help you think through this systematically.

Strategic / Long-Term / Foundational Problems

Route to: references/strategic.md

Use when the user needs:

• Long-term perspective or big-picture analysis
• Understanding temporal impact and consequences
• Challenging assumptions or thinking from first principles
• Strategic positioning or comprehensive situation analysis
• Overcoming present bias in decisions

Frameworks: first-principles, inversion, second-order, swot, 10-10-10

Prioritization / Focus / Resource Allocation

Route to: references/prioritization.md

Use when the user needs:

• Focus on high-impact activities
• Clarity on what to do first
• Reducing overwhelm or cutting through noise
• Identifying leverage points
• Task triage or resource allocation

Frameworks: pareto, one-thing, eisenhower-matrix

Problem Analysis / Root Cause / Simplification

Route to: references/problem-analysis.md

Use when the user needs:

• Deep understanding or root cause analysis
• Making optimal choices under constraints
• Simplifying complexity
• Evaluating trade-offs
• Finding the simplest solution

Frameworks: 5-whys, opportunity-cost, occams-razor, via-negativa

Multi-Framework Combinations

For complex problems, I may combine multiple frameworks:

• first-principles + inversion: Rebuilding while avoiding failure modes
• second-order + 10-10-10: Understanding cascading impacts across time
• pareto + one-thing: Identifying leverage points
• 5-whys + occams-razor: Root cause analysis with simple solutions
• eisenhower-matrix + pareto: Task triage with impact focus

How Routing Works

1. Analyze the request: Understand the context and challenge
2. Determine category: Is this primarily strategic, prioritization, or problem analysis?
3. Select framework(s): Choose the most appropriate framework(s) from the relevant category
4. Apply systematically: Follow the framework process exactly
5. Provide structured output: Present results in a clear, actionable format

Available Frameworks

Strategic Thinking (references/strategic.md)

• first-principles: Break down to fundamentals and rebuild from base truths
• inversion: Identify what would guarantee failure, then avoid those things
• second-order: Think through consequences of consequences
• swot: Map strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
• 10-10-10: Evaluate decisions across three time horizons

Prioritization (references/prioritization.md)

• pareto: Apply 80/20 rule to identify vital few factors
• one-thing: Identify single highest-leverage action
• eisenhower-matrix: Categorize by urgency vs importance

Problem Analysis (references/problem-analysis.md)

• 5-whys: Drill to root cause by asking why repeatedly
• opportunity-cost: Analyze what you give up by choosing an option
• occams-razor: Find simplest explanation that fits all facts
• via-negativa: Improve by removing rather than adding

Integration Notes

This unified skill serves the brainstormer agent, providing structured thinking capabilities across all three framework categories. The Router Pattern enables dynamic framework selection based on user needs while maintaining access to the full spectrum of thinking frameworks in a single, cohesive skill.