Start With a Frame
Describe the mess. Get a useful framework to start making sense of it.
Interactive tool
Find the right starting frame
Describe the mess in normal language. I’ll make a first read, ask one or two useful questions, then suggest a frame worth starting with. You do not need to diagnose the problem first. That would rather defeat the point.
Output
Useful frames for this mess
Quick feedback
Was this useful?
How this works
Most framework libraries start with the framework. This one starts with the mess.
Describe the mess
No need to diagnose it first. Write the problem the way you would explain it to someone.
Clarify what matters
A couple of follow-up questions help separate similar-looking problems.
Get a starting frame
See a recommended framework, alternatives, watch-outs and practical first steps.
What can it help with?
Product & prioritisation
Too many ideas, unclear roadmap, competing options or an MVP nobody can quite define.
Operations & workflow
Broken handoffs, bottlenecks, inconsistent work or recurring errors that keep coming back.
Ownership & decisions
Nobody owns it, everybody owns it, approval bottlenecks or unclear authority.
Customer & service friction
Confusing journeys, repeat contacts, usability problems or broken service handoffs.
Strategy & business models
Unclear positioning, growth choices, weak business models or crowded markets.
Funding & support
Internal business cases, grants, investor pitches, donor cases or impact arguments.
Knowledge & documentation
Untrusted knowledge bases, stale content, repeated questions or key-person dependency.
Root cause & diagnosis
Recurring problems, incidents, competing causes or system-level issues.
Communication & alignment
Stakeholder complexity, difficult feedback, change adoption or disagreements.
Automation & tools
What to automate, which tool to choose, build vs buy, AI risk or broken automations.
Planning & personal systems
Overloaded task lists, routines, shared chores or personal projects.
Frameworks it might recommend
The tool compares the shape of the problem, then ranks a useful place to start. It does not dump the whole library on you and wish you luck.
Prioritisation
RICE · ICE · Weighted Scoring · Impact/Effort · Kano · MoSCoW · Cost of Delay
Strategy
Playing to Win · Strategy Kernel · Five Forces · Ansoff · Business Model Canvas · Value Proposition Canvas
Processes
SIPOC · BPMN · Value Stream Mapping · Theory of Constraints · Standard Work · DMAIC
Ownership
RACI · DACI · RAPID · MOCHA · DRI · Delegation Poker
Diagnosis
5 Whys · Fishbone · Pareto · Kepner-Tregoe · Fault Tree · Causal Loop Diagram
The framework is not the answer. It is somewhere useful to start.
Why not just pick one from a list?
Because similar-looking problems often need completely different frames.
“We need a strategy” might mean choosing where to compete, fixing positioning, testing a business model or simply deciding what not to do.
“Our process is broken” might actually be an ownership problem. “We need automation” might mean the process needs fixing before anyone makes the mess run faster.
Start With a Frame tries to make that distinction before recommending anything.
Frequently asked questions
Which business framework should I use?
Start with the question you are actually trying to answer, not the framework you already know. A prioritisation problem, a root-cause problem and an ownership problem need different structures even when they all look like “we need to make a decision”.
Is there one framework that works for every problem?
No. If there were, management books would be much shorter. The useful part is choosing a frame that fits the question in front of you, then dropping it when reality stops cooperating.
Is this only for business problems?
No. The library also covers household responsibilities, planning and personal systems when a bit of structure helps.
Does the tool use AI?
Not currently. Your description is interpreted locally using a structured set of problem signals. The final recommendation comes from a deterministic scoring model rather than an AI inventing a framework on the fly.
Are the highest-scoring frameworks always the right answer?
No. The recommendation is a starting point, not a substitute for context or judgement. If reality disagrees with the score, reality wins.