PARADOXMental model
SWOT analysis template
Map what helps and hurts you, inside and out, then make the four boxes talk to each other.
Free. Works in your browser. No card needed.
What is the SWOT?
A SWOT analysis maps what helps and hurts you, inside and out: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Most SWOTs stop at four lists. PARADOX makes the boxes talk: use strengths to attack opportunities, fix weaknesses, defend against threats and avoid traps, then pick the one move the whole map points to.
When to use it
- You are planning a business, offer, project or career move
- You want an honest look at what helps and what hurts you
- You have the facts but not the plan
How the template works
Strengths
What do you do better than most?
Weaknesses
Where do you leak time, money or nerve?
Opportunities
What is moving in your favour right now?
Threats
What could take this away?
Attack
Which strength grabs which opportunity?
Fix
Which weakness blocks an opportunity?
Defend
Which strength guards you from a threat?
Avoid
Where weakness meets threat. Deal with it first.
The move
The one move this whole map points to.
What you leave with
An honest map of what helps and hurts you, and the one move it points to.
More mental models
Eisenhower Matrix
Sort everything by impact and urgency, then find the one thing that makes the rest easier.
First principles thinking
Strip a goal, problem or skill down to what must be true, then rebuild from those pieces only.
OODA loop
See it, make sense of it, choose, act, and go round again before the situation changes.
Circle of competence
Map your edge, the edge of your competence, and what is not your thing. Then move one thing inward.
Debrief
Take a finished task, project or goal apart: what you meant, what happened, why, and one change.
Brain dump
Get everything out of your head onto one page, then map it into a chart or a model.