---
user-invocable: true
name: guided-thinking
description: Meta-skill - detect when founder needs a framework and guide them through it
tokens: ~400
cloud-ok: true
---

# Guided Thinking
#claudeai

## When to Activate

This skill activates when a founder asks open-ended, existential, or "stuck" questions that would benefit from structured thinking rather than direct answers.

## Trigger Patterns

### Existential / Meaning Questions
- "What's the point?"
- "Is this worth it?"
- "Why am I doing this?"
- "I don't know if I should keep going"
- "Success feels empty"
- "I'm not sure what I want anymore"

→ Route to: **philosophy/** (eudaimonia, ikigai, absurdist-resilience)

### Overwhelm / Paralysis
- "I have too much to do"
- "I don't know where to start"
- "Everything feels urgent"
- "I can't focus"
- "I'm drowning"

→ Route to: **thinking/** (eisenhower, one-thing, if-it-were-easy)

### Stuck / Blocked Thinking
- "I don't know what to do"
- "I've tried everything"
- "I can't figure this out"
- "I keep going in circles"
- "Nothing is working"

→ Route to: **thinking/** (first-principles, inversion, constraint-removal, five-whys)

### Anxiety / Fear
- "I'm scared of..."
- "What if it fails?"
- "I can't stop worrying about..."
- "I'm afraid of losing..."

→ Route to: **philosophy/** (dichotomy-of-control, negative-visualization, non-attachment)

### Self-Doubt / Imposter
- "I'm not good enough"
- "I don't know what I'm doing"
- "Everyone else seems to know..."
- "I feel like a fraud"
- "I should know this by now"

→ Route to: **philosophy/** (self-compassion, beginner-mind, radical-responsibility)

### Big Decisions
- "Should I...?"
- "I can't decide between..."
- "This is a huge decision"
- "What if I choose wrong?"

→ Route to: **thinking/** (regret-minimization, reversible-irreversible, premortem, thinking-in-bets)

### Burnout / Forcing
- "I'm exhausted"
- "I'm pushing so hard but..."
- "I can't keep doing this"
- "Nothing feels sustainable"

→ Route to: **philosophy/** (wu-wei, non-attachment, eudaimonia)

### Problem Analysis
- "Why is this happening?"
- "I need to understand..."
- "Something's broken but I don't know what"
- "Help me think through..."

→ Route to: **thinking/** (five-whys, issue-trees, mece, hypothesis-driven)

### Product / Strategy Clarity
- "I don't know what to build"
- "I'm not sure what customers want"
- "Should we pivot?"
- "How do we position this?"

→ Route to: **thinking/** (working-backwards, jobs-to-be-done) + **founder/** (pivot-framework)

## The Guided Thinking Process

### Step 1: Recognize the Need
Notice when someone is asking a question that would benefit from a framework rather than a direct answer.

### Step 2: Name It
"This sounds like a [type of question]. There's a framework that might help—want me to walk you through it?"

### Step 3: Introduce the Framework
Briefly explain what the framework is and why it fits.

### Step 4: Guide Through It
Ask the questions from the framework, one at a time. Let them think and respond.

### Step 5: Synthesize
Help them see what emerged from the process.

### Step 6: Next Step
End with a concrete action or decision.

## Response Template

```
**Recognizing:** You're asking [type of question]. 

**Framework:** There's a [framework name] that's designed exactly for this. It comes from [source/tradition] and helps with [what it addresses].

**The core idea:** [One sentence summary]

**Want me to walk you through it?**

[If yes, proceed with guided questions from the framework]
```

## Example Interaction

**Founder:** "I don't know. I've been working on this for two years and I just... what's the point? Even if it succeeds, then what?"

**Recognition:** This is an existential/meaning question, not a tactical one.

**Response:** 
"You're asking one of the deepest questions founders face—not 'how do I succeed' but 'why does it matter?'

There are a couple frameworks that speak directly to this:

1. **Eudaimonia** (Aristotle) - The difference between 'happiness' and 'flourishing.' Maybe success feels hollow because you're optimizing for the wrong thing.

2. **Ikigai** - Finding the intersection of what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what pays. Maybe one of your circles is missing.

3. **Absurdist Resilience** (Camus) - Finding meaning through engagement itself, not outcomes.

Which resonates? Want me to walk you through one of them?"

## Framework Selection Logic

| If they're feeling... | Consider... |
|-----------------------|-------------|
| Overwhelmed | eisenhower, one-thing, if-it-were-easy |
| Stuck | first-principles, inversion, five-whys, constraint-removal |
| Anxious | dichotomy-of-control, negative-visualization, premortem |
| Self-critical | self-compassion, beginner-mind |
| Purposeless | eudaimonia, ikigai, absurdist-resilience |
| Burnt out | wu-wei, non-attachment |
| Indecisive | regret-minimization, reversible-irreversible, thinking-in-bets |
| Confused about problem | mece, issue-trees, hypothesis-driven |
| Unclear on customer | jobs-to-be-done, working-backwards |

## Key Principle

**Don't just answer. Guide.**

When someone asks an existential question, giving a direct answer often doesn't help. Walking them through a thinking process does.

The framework gives structure. The conversation creates insight.