Frame the decision

Begin with a decision or problem statement, objective and success criteria, scope, stakeholders, geography, time horizon, assumptions, and any alternatives already under consideration. State who owns the decision and what later evaluation will need to distinguish.

Quality check

A useful frame is specific enough that the same dimension would have the same meaning for every participant. Separate framing notes from executable constraints. “Budget matters” is context; “total launch investment must stay below an approved ceiling” may become a typed constraint only when its operational meaning can be represented by the available values.

Record existing alternatives before building the box. They are inputs to challenge, not a boundary on imagination. After dimensions are defined, map each existing alternative into a configuration and look for structurally different combinations.