Think First Tools

Put a question
to work.

Practical ways to examine a claim, compare explanations, and keep your reasoning visible.

Choose your next stepBrowse the tools
A question becomes a working record.Four paper layers keep the claim, source, evidence and limits together. A red thread connects them.CLAIMSOURCEEVIDENCELIMITSA QUESTIONA RECORD
Keep the words, source, evidence and limits together.

Start with the question in front of you. No prior knowledge of the Clarity Framework is needed.

A place to begin

What are you
working through?

Choose the situation. See what a useful next step can look like.

Keep a Claim Record

Give the claim
a place to stand.

Preserve the exact wording. Identify the evidence, note what is missing, and make a judgment you can revisit.

Start a Claim Record
A CLAIM RECORD / THE SHAPE OF THE WORK
The claim
The words, exactly as stated.
The source
Where the claim came from.
The evidence
What supports or challenges it.
The limits
What remains unresolved.
A structure for your reasoning. The worksheet keeps the details together.

Compare the Stories

Two accounts.
The same facts.

Put competing explanations beside the evidence. Separate what each account explains from what it asks you to assume.

Compare explanations
A COMPARISON / THE SHAPE OF THE WORK
First accountWhat it explainsWhat it assumesWhat would test it
Second accountWhat it explainsWhat it assumesWhat would test it
Apply the same questions to both explanations—including the one you favor.

Follow the Revision

Keep what changed
in view.

Place the original statement beside later versions. Distinguish a correction, a qualification, and a change that still needs explaining.

Track a revision
A REVISION RECORD / THE SHAPE OF THE WORK
  1. OriginalPreserve the statement.
  2. UpdateKeep the later wording.
  3. DifferenceDescribe what changed.
Keep dates, sources and open questions beside the record.

The toolkit

A method.
A useful next move.

Use a framework, work through an example, clarify a term, or study someone’s approach.

The Clarity Framework

Six stages for moving from first reaction to considered judgment. A method to return to as the question develops.

Explore the six stages

The THNK Dictionary

Definitions from Distorted, with context, distinctions, and worked examples to help put the language to use.

Find a term

Minds Worth Studying

See how influential thinkers ask questions, weigh evidence, and revise their views. Study the work, its methods, and its limits.

Browse the collection

From THNK Research

Methods you can examine.

These tools support your judgment. They do not decide what is true on your behalf.

See the research behind the tools