Free resource
You know the frameworks.The map knows when.
Here's a scene you've lived: the problem lands, the room looks at you, and your mind offers up three frameworks at once. DMAIC? A3? Just… escalate it? The difference between a senior decision and an expensive guess is about thirty seconds of structured thinking — and nobody ever handed you the structure.
This is the structure. One page. Every framework in the system, mapped to the situation it's built for, the cognitive trap that'll talk you into the wrong one, and the tell-tale signal that you're already in the wrong one. I built the first version of this map for myself, fifteen years into watching smart people pick wrong. This is the version I wish someone had handed me.
What it covers — four stages, one connected system.
Diagnose
“What kind of problem is this?”
Root Cause Analysis · 5 Whys · Fishbone / Ishikawa · Problem Framing
The trap this stage protects against: solutioneering. Half of failed projects were solving a symptom with great discipline. The map shows you the two questions that separate a root cause from a loud complaint.
Automate
“Should this be automated, and if so, how?”
Python scripting · Workflow mapping · Make-vs-buy decisions · Automation ROI
The trap: automating a broken process so it breaks faster. I've seen a team spend a quarter automating a workflow that should have been deleted. The map's make-vs-buy test kills that in ten minutes.
Manage
“How do I keep this moving without it falling apart?”
Agile & Scrum · Six Sigma DMAIC · Stakeholder mapping · Risk registers
The trap: methodology as religion. Scrum for interrupt-driven work. Kanban for fixed-scope contracts. The map pairs each method with the conditions it actually survives.
Deliver
“How do I ship it and communicate it so it lands?”
Cloud architecture decisions · DevOps pipelines · Executive communication · Data storytelling
The trap: shipping the thing and losing the room. A perfect architecture with an incoherent readout gets defunded. Delivery is technical and narrative — the map covers both.
Get the map — free.
One page. PDF. No spam, no drip sequence, unsubscribe any time. You get the map; occasionally I send one short note when a new framework earns its place on it. That's the whole deal.
Your move: get the map, find your current project on it, and check whether the framework you're using is the one the map recommends for your situation. Either answer is worth 30 seconds and an email address.