“Ajay, don’t you already have a framework for this?”

I hear this from team members, founders, mentees. And they’re right — I usually do.

The trouble is, people assume that’s the answer. Like the right slide, diagram, or 2×2 matrix is going to solve their problem. But here’s the thing nobody likes to admit about frameworks:

They’re not truth. They’re taxidermy.

They look like the real animal — sharp teeth, familiar shape — but the life is gone. What’s left is just the shell of something that once moved, hunted, and adapted. The thing that mattered wasn’t the framework.

It was the instinct that built it.

Frameworks Are Frozen Moments in Time

A framework is like a photograph: it captures what worked then — under specific conditions like the market, the team, the culture.

Take the ICE Score for prioritising projects (Impact × Confidence × Effort). It’s elegant and quick. But its usefulness depends entirely on your definitions:

• What does “impact” mean in this context?

• Is your “confidence” based on real data or gut feel?

• Is your “effort” estimate anywhere near accurate?

Change any of those conditions — a new market reality, a shift in team skills, an unexpected constraint — and the framework starts to rot. The instinct that built it can keep evolving; the diagram in Notion can’t.

This is where people fall into the cargo cult problem.

They copy the steps or the template without understanding the origin story — like trying to cast a spell without knowing the language. You can follow the motions exactly and still fail, because the field conditions aren’t the same.

That’s how teams end up “following best practices” straight into mediocrity.

How Physics taught me this

Physics was my first big lesson in this. In high school, you learn some basic gravity formulas. Plug in numbers. Gravity happens. Cool.

Then in uni, you discover that’s just a convenient simplification. The deeper reality is messy, contradictory, and full of exceptions. Eventually you try to derive it from scratch — Newton’s laws, the Lagrangian — and realize:

The formula isn’t truth. It’s a compressed version of it.

If the context changes, the formula breaks. Frameworks work the same way.

Why I Still Use Them

I’m not anti-framework. I’m extremely pro-framework. They’re brilliant for:

• Onboarding — giving juniors a mental model.

• Communication — aligning cross-functional teams.

• Scaling judgment — when you can’t be in the room.

But they’re scaffolding, not the structure. They should be built to be torn down.

Final Thoughts

Next time you reach for a framework, ask:

• Is this helping me see the problem?

• Or is it helping me avoid thinking?

Use frameworks. But never treat them as law.

They’re just traces of deeper instincts — the instincts that let you adapt, break rules, and sometimes “wing it” in ways that look reckless to outsiders… but are actually the product of invisible judgment.

“It’s directionally correct… but I wouldn’t use it exactly like that.”

That’s your cue to stop following — and start thinking.

Until next time,

Ajay

🧠 Ajay’s Resource Bank

A few tools and collections I’ve built (or obsessively curated) over the years:

• 100+ Mental Models
  Mental shortcuts and thinking tools I’ve refined over the past decade. These have evolved as I’ve gained experience — pruned, updated, and battle-tested.

• 100+ Questions
  If you want better answers, ask better questions. These are the ones I keep returning to — for strategy, reflection, and unlocking stuck conversations.

• Startup OS
  A lightweight operating system I built for running startups. I’m currently adapting it for growth teams as I scale Superpower — thinking about publishing it soon.

• Remote Games & Activities
  Fun team-building exercises and games (many made in Canva) that actually work. Good for offsites, Zoom fatigue, or breaking the ice with distributed teams.

✅ Ajay’s “would recommend” List

These are tools and services I use personally and professionally — and recommend without hesitation:

• Athyna – Offshore Hiring Done Right
  I personally have worked with assistants overseas and built offshore teams. Most people get this wrong by assuming you have to go the lowest cost for automated work. Try hiring high quality, strategic people for a fraction of the cost instead.

• Superpower – It starts with a 100+ lab tests
  I joined Superpower as Head of Growth, but I originally came on to fix my health. In return, I got a full diagnostic panel, a tailored action plan, and ongoing support that finally gave me clarity after years of flying blind.
  (Want a discount code? Just reply to this email.)