Frameworks over tools

Some vocabulary

Framework: A basic structure or set of principles on which something is designed, organized or developed

Frameworks help us to think with a particular structure and baseline so that we can iterate faster towards solutions. A framework is not tool dependent, in fact it actively tries to just capture the philosophy of the solution rather than implementation details so that it can be implemented in any tool.

I see people resorting to implementation details and tools when faced with a problem. This fogs the vision and prevents people from thinking from first principles.

When you are faced with a problem and while searching for solutions, make sure you internalize the principle that the idea of search is not to settle on the solution but to get a lay of the land. To make sure there are no other problem statements which evaded your thought.

Once you have enough clarity over the problem statement & its scope

• sit back and try to objectively solve the problem.
• Chart down the philosophies of solving the problem.
• Set the framework up so that a class of problems can be solved by anyone who encounters a similar problem.
• Once the framework is in place, find a tool which satisfies the framework and implement the tool.

It is very important to dis-associate from tools and think in terms of frameworks, the tool at the end of the day is just an implementation detail.

Examples

Some frameworks in the wild

• Six sigma
• Circles