The grids, pyramids, loops, curves and diagrams that people use to think clearly — in business, psychology, medicine, schools, science, the army and everyday life.
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What are these tools called? There is no single official name. People call them frameworks or models. A grid is a matrix (plural: matrices), and a four-box grid is a 2×2 (say “two-by-two”). Researchers who sort people or things into types call the result a typology.
How many are there? Nobody knows — hundreds, and new ones appear every year. Most collections choose the best 50 to 80. This toolbox holds the ones you are most likely to meet, in six families, grouped by their shape. The shape tells you how the tool thinks: a grid sorts, a pyramid ranks, a loop repeats, a curve shows a pattern, a diagram connects, and a checklist makes sure nothing is forgotten.
Are they only for business? No. Use the buttons below to see the same kind of thinking in psychology, medicine, education, the military and politics. Tools marked lesson have a full lesson.
Take two questions, cross them, and every item falls into a box. The most popular shape of all.
Levels stacked on top of each other: the bottom must be solid before you climb.
Steps that come round again. The point is not to finish but to keep turning — faster and better.
A line on a chart that shows a pattern — and a rule of thumb that grows out of it.
Boxes, branches and arrows that show how things connect — causes, steps, overlaps.
A set of headings that makes sure nothing is forgotten — often remembered as a short word.
No tool matches — try a different word.