Emergency Bias Kit: Trap Avoidance
Five cognitive biases that derail decisions most often — each with a one-line "catch" question you can ask in real time. Print it, pin it, break glass when needed.
Downloadable frameworks, guides, worksheets, and visual examples from the series. Use them, share them, pin them to your wall.
Five cognitive biases that derail decisions most often — each with a one-line "catch" question you can ask in real time. Print it, pin it, break glass when needed.
All thirty problem-solving methods from Book 2, organised by which Hang On question they address. Your complete method menu.
The core principles of effective visual design on one page: contrast, alignment, proximity, hierarchy, and whitespace.
The five checks on one printable page. Pin it to your wall, keep it in your notebook, run it before every meeting. The single most useful page in the book.
The five ways arguments fail before they begin: the Dump, the Burial, the Wrong Room, the Missing So-What, and the Ignored Objection. Includes an interactive diagnostic to find your pattern.
An introduction to problem definition — the most underrated skill in any toolkit. Adapted from Chapter 2 of Book 2.
The most common diagram mistakes and how to fix them, with before-and-after examples. From Chapter 13 of Book 1.
Before you adopt any technology solution, ask this one deceptively simple question. Adapted from Chapter 14 of Book 2.
A structured one-page template for defining problems properly before jumping to solutions. Includes the 5 Whys and reframing prompts.
Run a pre-mortem on your next project: imagine it failed, then work out why. A printable facilitation guide.
Before you open any tool, plan your diagram: audience, message, type, and layout. One page, every time.
A pre-flight check for any diagram or visual: clarity, accuracy, simplicity, audience-appropriateness.
Side-by-side comparisons showing how applying core principles transforms confusing diagrams into clear ones.
Sample systems maps, feedback loop diagrams, and complexity visuals you can study and adapt.
Stuck on a problem? Answer a few quick questions about your situation and the selector will guide you to the right Hang On question — with tailored methods and next steps.
A short decision guide for picking the visual form that actually serves your message. Answer three quick questions and get a recommended diagram, a useful blend, a starter structure, and 21 worked examples in the library.
Plan and visualise your projects with this interactive roadmap tool. Create swim lanes, drag initiatives across quarters, colour-code by theme, and export as PNG or PDF — no sign-up required.
Create 2×2 matrices to map priorities, compare trade-offs, and make decisions visually. Choose from presets like Effort vs Impact or Eisenhower, or build your own — then export as PNG.
Not sure which problem-solving method to try? Answer a few quick questions about your situation and get personalised recommendations from the 30 methods in the book.
Map out projects, processes, or stories on a visual timeline. Add events, drag to reorder, run parallel tracks for multiple workstreams, and export as PNG.
Walk through a real argument you're preparing for. The tool guides you through all five checks, one at a time, then generates a printable Pre-Flight brief to take into the room.
Build a visual stakeholder map for your meeting. Add people, tag them as ally, neutral, or sceptic, assign their currency, and see who your biggest risk and swing vote are.
Find the strongest objection to your argument and build your response. Rank three objections from weakest to strongest, then craft the "name it, respect it, answer it" sequence — with a live "but" detector.
A carpenter doesn't carry every tool to every job. They carry the right one.
Chapter 16, Well, That Didn't Work