00 The Framework Selector — Free Guide + Workbook

Ten problem playbooks, each routing you straight to the models that solve it — free.

The Framework Selector is the front door to the Business Framework Library’s 467 models. Ten problems businesses actually bring, in plain language — each one routed to the exact stack of two to four models that solves it, in the order you run them. Free, from the author of the full Library.

What you get

The Framework Selector Guide (24-page PDF) — the five questions that classify any business problem, ten problem playbooks with the model stack for each, a one-page decision tree, and three complete one-page model briefs in the Library’s house format. Plus the Framework Selector Workbook (Excel) — pick your problem from one drop-down and it returns your model stack, the role each model plays, and where each is taught in full. Thirty seconds from open to answer. No macros.

How every playbook is built

Read one and you understand all ten. Each playbook names the problem in plain language, then gives the models in the order you actually run them — diagnose, then size, then decide — and tells you exactly where in the Business Framework Library to go if you want to run the full model rather than just the summary.

The ten playbooks

“I’m building something new — what business model should it use?” · “Growth has stalled.” · “Cash is tight.” · “Our pricing feels wrong.” · “A competitor is undercutting us.” · “We’re entering a new market.” · “Should we buy, build, or partner?” · “Revenue is growing but profit isn’t.” · “The business is in real trouble — can it be saved?” · “We have options on the table and the board needs convincing.”

The learning path

The Selector is deliberately small — ten problems, thirty-three models — because it routes, it doesn’t teach. Once you know your stack, the Business Framework Compendium gives you the complete one-page reference for each model in the exact format used throughout the Library: the question it answers, how it works, inputs and outputs, a worked example, strengths, limits, the pitfall, and where it leads.

Who it’s for

Operators, associates and advisers who need to move from a messy real-world problem to the right analytical tool in minutes, not hours — without first wading through a catalogue of hundreds of frameworks to find the three that matter.

How to use it

Open the guide, find the sentence closest to the problem on your desk, and run the stack it gives you. Keep the decision tree on page 17 somewhere you’ll see it — most people print it.

The free companion to the Business Framework Library — the routing layer that sits in front of the Business Framework Compendium, the complete one-page reference to all 467 models. Share it freely with anyone who needs to find the right framework fast.

By John Colley — Cambridge University MA · MBA with Distinction, Bayes Business School · 30+ years in investment banking, M&A and private equity.