When frameworks fail: what to do when your model doesn't match the moment

Consultants love a good framework. We use them to map problems, guide strategy, and bring structure to chaos. But sometimes, the problem doesn’t fit the model. The situation is too fluid, too emotional, too layered. I’ve been in rooms where a textbook approach fell flat - not because it was wrong, but because it wasn’t enough. In this article, I share how I’ve learned to work when the model doesn’t match the moment - and what to reach for instead.

I still remember the project that broke my blind faith in frameworks.

A global logistics company brought me in to help reset its strategic direction. Market share had eroded for three years straight, and the executive team needed answers. I came armed with all the usual tools - Porter’s Five Forces, value chain analysis, core competency reviews. We ran the diagnostics, produced a slick presentation, and scheduled the board workshop.

But halfway through the session, the COO looked up and said, “I feel like we’re trying to fix a burning building by redrawing the floor plan.”

He wasn’t being difficult - he was being honest. And he was right.

When the model fits the logic but not the mood

What those models didn’t capture was the mood inside the company. Fear. Blame. Burnout. I had underestimated how deeply personal the decline had become. People weren’t struggling with strategy - they were struggling with energy, direction, and trust.

I stepped back. I asked to spend the next week shadowing frontline managers and attending operations calls. What I found wasn’t a strategic gap. It was emotional erosion. People were waiting for a signal that things could get better. They didn’t need a new value proposition yet - they needed a reason to believe again.

That’s not something you solve with a quadrant.

Lesson 1: Frameworks are lenses, not answers

A good framework clarifies, but a great consultant knows when to color outside the lines. I still use the classics - I just don’t expect them to tell the whole truth.

These days, when a model feels flat, I look for friction. Where does the client disagree with the framework? Where do they hesitate to answer? That hesitation is often the doorway to what really matters.

Once, a financial services firm proudly filled out a 7S model with textbook answers. Everything seemed aligned. But something didn’t sit right. In a follow-up session, I asked each executive to rank the “S” they thought was the weakest. Nearly all of them pointed to “Style” - the leadership tone. It sparked a conversation that was long overdue: their CEO’s hands-off style had created a vacuum no one had dared to name.

That conversation shifted the entire project. Not because the model was wrong - but because we were finally using it to ask real questions.

Lesson 2: Adjust the model to the moment

Rigid frameworks are for classrooms. Real business problems are fluid. You have to adapt.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

• Modifying SWOT into a cultural diagnostic:
  With one client, instead of standard Strengths/Weaknesses, I asked:
  What are the stories people tell about success here? What do people fear behind closed doors?
  That surfaced more insight about the organization’s mindset than any spreadsheet ever could.
• Turning 5 Forces into “5 Feelings”:
  With a startup team unsure of how to handle new competition, I replaced Porter's Five Forces with questions like:
  What competitor keeps you up at night? Which one are you secretly impressed by?
  It moved the conversation from abstraction to emotional honesty - and that’s where strategy got real.
• Evolving the 7S into the 9S:
  I once added “Sustainability” and “Story” to the classic McKinsey framework. In a legacy manufacturing company, this helped us talk not just about operations, but about meaning - the story employees felt they were a part of, and the kind of future they believed the company was building.

Frameworks don’t need to be static. Let them bend toward the truth of the moment.

Lesson 3: When in doubt, slow down and listen

I’ve made the mistake before of rushing into model mode because it felt safer - cleaner, more analytical. But often, the smartest thing you can do is slow down and listen.

There was a turnaround project where the client insisted on “fixing the org chart.” But after a few honest conversations, it became clear they weren’t lacking structure - they were lacking safety. No one dared speak candidly. So instead of restructuring, we designed a set of internal dialogues - small, cross-level sessions where people could voice concerns, test ideas, and rebuild trust.

That wasn’t in any framework. It was just the right thing to do.

Tactical alternatives when frameworks fall short

If you’re ever in a room where the model isn’t working, here are a few things I reach for instead:

1. Systems Mapping (without buzzwords):

Draw relationships, not charts. Who influences what? What happens when one thing changes? Get messy. Use markers. This invites dialogue in ways most PowerPoint slides never do.

2. Shadowing and ethnography:

Spend a day where the real work happens. Not just in boardrooms, but in warehouses, sales calls, service desks. You'll hear things that frameworks never reveal.

3. Leadership journaling exercises:

Ask executives to write (not say) their answers to prompts like:

• What do I fear will happen if we don’t change?
• What part of our culture would I protect at all costs?

4. Storytelling audits:

Have teams share what stories get told at onboarding, at company parties, in exit interviews. These stories hold the keys to what people actually believe about the organization.

5. Pre-mortem workshops:

Instead of asking “What’s our strategy?”, ask: Imagine we failed spectacularly a year from now - what happened?
This reveals buried risks, unspoken doubts, and emotional resistance you can’t model away.

The real work begins where the framework ends

Consulting, at its best, isn’t about putting the right labels on the problem. It’s about sitting with complexity long enough to see what’s really going on - even when it’s not easy to explain on a slide.

Some of the most powerful insights I’ve seen didn’t come from the framework. They came from a raised eyebrow, a long silence, a side comment after the meeting. Those are the moments when people finally tell the truth. And when they do, we owe them more than a model.

We owe them a willingness to meet the moment - however imperfectly - with empathy, curiosity, and courage.

Takeaway

When your framework fails you, it’s not a sign of weakness. It’s an invitation. To look deeper. To listen better. To create a custom lens for the reality in front of you.

So the next time your model doesn’t fit, don’t panic. Step back. Ask a different question. And remember - clarity comes more from conversation than from categories.

Questions for reflection:

• What’s a moment when you relied too heavily on a model? What would you do differently now?
• Which alternative tools have helped you see through complexity when a framework didn’t cut it?
• Do you leave enough space in your process for doubt, tension, and emotional honesty?