How Are the Thinking Tools on Untools Categorized?

Updated

Untools organizes its thinking tools into four categories: Systems thinking, Decision making, Problem solving, and Communication. Each tool is tagged with one of these categories so you can start from the type of challenge you're facing rather than browsing an alphabetical list. If you already know your goal—say, prioritizing tasks or understanding a system—the category label is the fastest way to narrow the collection.

The Four Categories at a Glance

Category What it helps you do Example tools
Systems thinking Understand relationships, feedback loops, and hidden causes within systems Iceberg Model, Connection circles, Concept map, Balancing feedback loop
Decision making Choose between options and weigh trade-offs Six Thinking Hats, Eisenhower Matrix, Second-order thinking, Decision matrix, Impact-Effort Matrix, Ladder of inference, Hard choice model, OODA loop, Cynefin framework, Confidence determines speed vs. quality
Problem solving Identify root causes and structure complex problems Ishikawa Diagram, Abstraction laddering, Conflict Resolution Diagram, Zwicky box, Productive Thinking Model, Inversion, Issue trees, First principles
Communication Express ideas and feedback more clearly Situation-Behavior-Impact, Minto Pyramid

How the Categories Map to Real Tasks

The category names describe an intent, not a subject area. A few examples show how this plays out:

  • "I need to prioritize my week." That's a decision-making task, so the Eisenhower Matrix (importance vs. urgency) or the Impact-Effort Matrix fits.
  • "Something keeps going wrong and I don't know why." That's problem solving (Ishikawa Diagram for root causes) or systems thinking (Iceberg Model for hidden levels of a recurring event).
  • "I have to give feedback without sounding harsh." That's communication—Situation-Behavior-Impact is built for exactly this.
  • "I'm choosing between two job offers." Decision making again, but the Hard choice model helps you first figure out what kind of decision you're making before comparing options.

Why the Categories Matter

Untools describes itself as a "curated collection of thinking tools and frameworks to help you solve problems, make decisions and understand systems." The four categories mirror that mission directly: problem solving, decision making, systems thinking, and communication. Because each tool carries a single category tag, you can scan a category and compare tools that address the same underlying need—useful when you want one method rather than a whole toolkit.

Practical Notes

  • Some tools could arguably sit in more than one category (for example, Inversion is tagged under problem solving but is often used in decision making). Treat the tags as a starting point, not a strict boundary.
  • The site also offers a set of free thinking tool templates and a newsletter; the page states that over 19,500 people receive practical frameworks every two weeks. Whether templates require sign-up or payment isn't specified in the available page information, so check the site directly if that matters to you.
  • If you're new to the collection, picking a category based on your immediate goal is faster than reading every tool description.