O · Recipe collection
Quick Recipes
Practical ways to create room for a different option.
Choose a recipe in the practical Guide →Choose a Quick Recipe
- Third DoorYou keep choosing between two unsatisfying actions, and each discussion ends where it began. Third Door helps you construct alternatives with different timing, mechanisms, or commitments before deciding.Expand branch →
- Ban-and-ReplaceEvery new suggestion sounds like an old suggestion with a different name. Briefly removing the obvious answers can help you build one candidate that works in a genuinely different way.
- Zero-Based ChoiceA commitment keeps winning because you have already spent years on it. Zero-Based Choice lets continuation compete with today’s alternatives while preserving the real obligations your history created.
- Reversible First StepA large commitment makes every possible action feel too big. Find a small action you can undo that still teaches you something relevant to the decision.
- Pilot Before PromiseAn idea sounds workable, but you have never run it under real conditions. A bounded pilot helps you test delivery before offering an ongoing promise to yourself or others.Expand branch →
- Portfolio Instead of PickSeveral promising routes remain uncertain, and more analysis will not settle them. A small portfolio lets you pursue genuinely different paths within one shared budget and review plan.
- Wait for a SignalWaiting may be sensible, but “we will see” leaves the decision unattended. Name the incoming signal, a deadline, and the action each possible result will trigger.Expand branch →
- Family SortA long list feels impossible to compare because many entries are versions of the same idea. Group options by how they work or how they commit you before comparing details.
- Best TestTwo plausible options depend on different assumptions, and talking no longer helps. Find the cheapest real observation on which those options would lead you to expect different results.