Shaping Thoughts into Frameworks

Why Frameworks Should Reflect the Way We Think

Photo by N. on Unsplash

In a previous post, I presented a taxonomy for decision-making & problem-solving frameworks, consisting of four patterns:

1. Categories (e.g., De Bono’s Thinking Hats, SMART goals)
2. Sequences (e.g., Kanban, Lean Startup)
3. Comparisons (e.g., Ansoff Matrix, Ikigai)
4. Systems (e.g., Business Model Canvas, Viable Systems Model)

These are the four most common organizing principles of information. Each of these organizing principles also reveals fascinating insights about how our minds interact with information.

Thought Shapes Form

When there are too many thoughts to hold in our mind, we put those thoughts into the world in a similar way to how these ideas are stored in our minds¹.

Take furniture assembly. Initially, it’s challenging to hold a mental image of the entire assembly in your mind. Yet we intuitively know that a good first step is to gain an overview of all parts, a second step is to grab appropriate tools, and a third step is to put the first screw into the first piece of wood.

See what happened? What’s fascinating here is the natural inclination of our minds to structure information into a sequence when faced with the challenge of furniture assembly. Enter IKEA manuals, which act as externalized blueprints that replicate this very thought process. Each step in the manual corresponds to a specific thought or action, breaking down the complex task into manageable parts.

Just like IKEA manuals help us assemble furniture, frameworks simplify complex ideas into clear and usable blueprints by representing the natural structure of our thoughts. As such, the visual representation of frameworks should be congruent with the way the thought presents itself in our mind.

Think of it like a spiral: We have thoughts in our mind, frameworks help externalize these thoughts and put them into the world, help our own thinking and that of others, in order to promote action, which in turn will shape our thought². All this is enhanced with frameworks that mirror the shape of our thoughts.

Internal representations are like mental models of how we see the world. Once we express them into the world, they become external representations. Internal representations are linked with external representations in a two-way interaction. A change in the external representation results in a change in the internal representation². This is how frameworks facilitate decision-making and problem-solving. The better they mirror our internal representations, the more effective they are.

Shapes of Thought

A thought can take various shapes. I like to use the term “cognitive activity” to describe shapes of thought:

• MoSCoW technique: Prioritize
• Pirate metrics: Track, analyze
• Ansoff matrix: Compare, decide
• Business Model Canvas: Analyze, design

For example, in the Ansoff matrix, the cognitive activity is to “compare” and “decide” between different growth options . This informs the organizing principle: the underlying structure information should take to promote the cognitive activity. We can then choose between different forms to visualize the organizing principle. To compare two or more options, a 2x2 matrix is a great starting point.

In short, the cognitive activity guides the visual form of the framework.

Below is a list of cognitive activities we often encounter in our day-to-day, and their underlying organizing principle. This is by no means a complete or exclusive list, but meant as a starting point to help you shape your thoughts into frameworks.

Cognitive activities often build upon and integrate simpler tasks. For example, designing a system might encompass elements of comparison, sequencing, and categorization.

[1] Tversky, B.: Mind in Motion

[2] Clark, A., & Chalmers, D.J.: The Extended Mind, Hutchins, E.: Cognition in the Wild, Scaife, M., & Rogers, Y.: External Cognition

If you read this far, thank you for your attention. This post is part of a 5-part series that will also be able to download as an e-book. Join my mailing list to get notified when it becomes available.

• Part 1: Types of Frameworks — discover the underlying patterns of abstract concepts.
• Part 2: Shaping Thoughts into Frameworks — learn how frameworks reflect the way we think.
• Part 3: How to Create a Framework — use a step-by-step process to reveal the underlying pattern of your information and arrange it into a visual representation.
• Part 4: What Makes a Good Framework — assess your framework against quality attributes
• Part 5: How to Choose a Framework — select the right framework for your project