research-document
Framework Census
Framework Census
Status: Working draft
| Framework | Primary Question | Core Grammar | Output | Candidate Archetype | Failure Mode | Confidence | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWOT | What is the current state? | Internal/external factors by helpful/harmful | Current-state map | Situational Assessment | Mistaken for strategy or prioritization | Medium | Better treated as assessment than plan |
| PESTLE | What external factors matter? | External drivers by category | Environmental scan | Situational Assessment | Becomes checklist without synthesis | Medium | Domain labels vary, grammar stays similar |
| Porter's Five Forces | What shapes competitive pressure? | Five force pressures around a market | Competitive pressure profile | Situational Assessment | Over-static market view | Medium | Commonly strategic, structurally assessment-oriented |
| Five Whys | Why did this happen? | Repeated causal questioning | Causal chain | Diagnostic | Stops at superficial narrative | Medium | Lightweight diagnostic grammar |
| Fishbone / Ishikawa | What cause categories explain this effect? | Effect with cause branches | Cause map | Diagnostic | Category fill-in without validation | Medium | Often paired with Five Whys |
| RCA | What is the root cause? | Cause tracing and contributing factors | Root-cause finding | Diagnostic | Premature certainty | Medium | Umbrella label over several diagnostic grammars |
| Fault Tree Analysis | How can this failure occur? | Top event with logical cause decomposition | Failure tree | Diagnostic | False completeness | Medium | Strong causal structure |
| FMEA | Where can failure occur and what is the effect? | Failure mode, effect, cause, control | Failure-risk table | Diagnostic | False precision from scoring | Medium | Mixes diagnosis and prioritization |
| Bow-Tie Analysis | What threats lead to loss and what controls interrupt it? | Threats, top event, consequences, barriers | Barrier map | Diagnostic | Control theater without evidence | Medium | Connects causes and consequences |
| STAMP | What control structure allowed failure? | Constraints, controllers, feedback, losses | Control-structure analysis | Diagnostic | Over-complexity for simpler failures | Low-Medium | More architectural than linear RCA |
| Decision Matrix | Which option should we choose? | Options by criteria | Comparative choice table | Decision / Prioritization | Hidden weighting assumptions | Medium | Simple comparative grammar |
| Weighted Decision Matrix | Which option scores highest on weighted criteria? | Options, criteria, weights, scores | Weighted ranking | Decision / Prioritization | False precision from numeric totals | Medium | Good taxonomy test for Appropriate Precision |
| Eisenhower Matrix | What should be done now, scheduled, delegated, or dropped? | Urgent/important quadrant sort | Priority quadrants | Decision / Prioritization | Oversimplified urgency framing | Medium | Triage grammar |
| MoSCoW | What must, should, could, or will not be done? | Priority buckets | Prioritized backlog | Decision / Prioritization | Category inflation | Medium | Categorical prioritization |
| Kepner-Tregoe | Which option best fits weighted objectives and risks? | Situation analysis, decision criteria, risk review | Structured decision record | Decision / Prioritization | Process overhead | Low-Medium | Multi-step decision grammar |
| SMART Goals | Is the goal well-formed? | Goal quality against criteria | Goal specification | Planning / Alignment | Encourages performative specificity | Medium | Goal-shaping grammar |
| OKRs | How do we align objectives and measurable results? | Objectives with key results | Alignment plan | Planning / Alignment | Metric chasing | Medium | Links intent to outcomes |
| Balanced Scorecard | How do we track strategic performance across dimensions? | Strategic dimensions with measures | Performance profile | Planning / Alignment | Dashboard without causality | Medium | Mixed planning and monitoring grammar |
| Hoshin Kanri | How do we align strategy across levels? | Breakthrough goals, cascades, review loops | Aligned strategy deployment plan | Planning / Alignment | Bureaucratic translation loss | Low-Medium | Strong alignment grammar |
| Theory of Constraints | What constraint most limits throughput? | Constraint identification and exploitation | Constraint-focused improvement plan | Planning / Alignment | Local optimization around wrong bottleneck | Medium | Could also cluster with execution |
| Lean Startup | What should we test next about value and viability? | Hypothesis, experiment, learning loop | Experiment-driven iteration plan | Design / Discovery | Superficial experimentation | Medium | Discovery through feedback loops |
| Jobs To Be Done | What job is the user trying to accomplish? | Job, context, desired progress | Job model | Design / Discovery | Overgeneralized motivational stories | Medium | Inquiry grammar centered on progress |
| Design Thinking | What should we create for user needs? | Empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test | Solution exploration path | Design / Discovery | Ritualized workshop output | Medium | Broad discovery grammar |
| Double Diamond | How do we diverge and converge through problem and solution space? | Discover, define, develop, deliver | Design process map | Design / Discovery | Process theater | Medium | Flow grammar more than content grammar |
| Scrum | How do we coordinate iterative delivery? | Roles, backlog, sprint, review, retrospective | Iteration cadence | Execution / Flow | Ceremony without adaptation | Medium | Operating cadence grammar |
| Kanban | How do we manage work flow and constraints? | Work items, states, limits, pull flow | Flow board | Execution / Flow | Board without policy discipline | Medium | State-transition grammar |
| GTD | How do we capture and advance commitments? | Capture, clarify, organize, review, engage | Personal workflow system | Execution / Flow | List maintenance overhead | Medium | Individual execution grammar |
| RACI | Who is responsible, accountable, consulted, informed? | Role-to-decision responsibility map | Accountability matrix | Governance / Control | Illusory clarity without authority | Medium | Control through role mapping |
| DACI | Who drives, approves, contributes, and is informed? | Decision-role assignment | Decision authority map | Governance / Control | Ambiguous real authority | Medium | Similar to RACI with decision emphasis |
| COSO Internal Control | How do controls address governance and risk? | Control environment, risk, activities, info, monitoring | Control framework profile | Governance / Control | Compliance formality over substance | Low-Medium | Enterprise control grammar |
| COBIT | How should IT governance and control be structured? | Governance objectives, controls, processes | IT governance model | Governance / Control | Heavyweight abstraction | Low-Medium | Domain-specific governance grammar |
| ITIL | How should service work be managed? | Practices, lifecycle, service value system | Service management operating model | Execution / Flow | Process accumulation | Low-Medium | Could overlap governance and flow |
| Bloom's Taxonomy | What level of learning is demonstrated? | Hierarchy of cognitive activities | Learning-level classification | Learning / Evaluation | Mistaken as rigid sequence | Medium | Evaluative taxonomy grammar |
| Kolb Learning Cycle | How does experience become learning? | Experience, reflection, conceptualization, experimentation | Learning-cycle interpretation | Learning / Evaluation | Forced cycle fit | Medium | Process grammar for learning |
| Kirkpatrick Model | What training impact occurred at each level? | Reaction, learning, behavior, results | Training evaluation profile | Learning / Evaluation | Weak causal attribution | Medium | Multi-level evaluation grammar |
| CIPP Evaluation | What context, inputs, process, and product should be evaluated? | Context, input, process, product | Evaluation profile | Learning / Evaluation | Over-broad evaluation scope | Medium | General evaluation grammar |
| OODA Loop | How do we act under changing conditions? | Observe, orient, decide, act | Adaptive action loop | Execution / Flow | Overcompressed decision dynamics | Medium | Fast adaptation grammar |
| PDCA | How do we improve iteratively? | Plan, do, check, act | Improvement loop | Execution / Flow | Superficial looping | Medium | Generic improvement grammar |
| DMAIC | How do we improve a process systematically? | Define, measure, analyze, improve, control | Structured improvement project | Execution / Flow | Method overhead | Medium | Process-improvement grammar |
| Cynefin | What kind of situation are we in? | Domain classification by causal character | Sensemaking map | Situational Assessment | Category overconfidence | Medium | Assessment via domain typing |
| Wardley Mapping | Where are components positioned across value chain and evolution? | User needs, components, evolution axis | Strategic landscape map | Situational Assessment | Snapshot mistaken for strategy | Low-Medium | Strong current-state mapping grammar |
| Business Model Canvas | How is the business model structured? | Nine model building blocks | Business model map | Situational Assessment | Static template fill-in | Medium | Describes current or proposed system state |
| Value Proposition Canvas | How does an offering fit customer jobs, pains, gains? | Customer profile and value map | Fit map | Situational Assessment | Overfitting assumed customer needs | Medium | Near-neighbor to JTBD |