The problem with frameworks

Frameworks feel like insight. Usually they're the opposite.

I love frameworks. I also know they're dangerous.

A framework compresses complicated reality into a simple shape. This is helpful for communication, for teaching, for moving fast. It's also dangerous because the framework starts to do your thinking for you.

The risk

Once you know a framework, every problem starts looking like it fits. Maslow's hierarchy, SWOT, BCG matrix, AIDA, Five Whys, Jobs to be Done, whatever. Once the framework is in your head, you unconsciously map situations into it.

Usually they fit, kind of. Close enough that you feel like you've understood. But "close enough" hides the mismatch. The part of the situation that doesn't fit the framework is often where the interesting insight is.

What to do instead

Use frameworks as prompts, not verdicts. Apply them, then check for what doesn't fit. The residue, the facts the framework couldn't absorb, is usually where the learning is.

Frameworks are scaffolding for thought. They should be noticeably less intelligent than the thinker using them. When a framework starts producing insights you didn't work for, that's your signal to be skeptical.