T-Chart Framework

Draw the "T"! - another "Best Of" communication and influence tool.

One of the best frameworks I’ve created and shared in coaching sessions gets consistently quoted back to me at conferences and events where I meet up with clients or webinar participants.

Many of my clients, who include CEOs, founders, CFOs, Heads of Finance, and former executive team colleagues, have all used it and consistently remind me along the lines of the following

“That T-Chart thing changed the room.”

In fact, I just had this conversation at a recent event during “cocktail hour,” to which I replied, “I need to finally write a post on this.”

It’s a close cousin to my Islands of Safety Framework, also called “pure gold” by the same set of people. Both are deceptively simple yet incredibly powerful. They work in real rooms, with real people, making real decisions.

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Here’s the Scenario: Does This Sound familiar?

You’re in a heated strategy meeting. Opinions are swirling, there’s no focus, and the room is rabbit holing…there may even be a ‘Mad Hatter’ in the room (ode to Lewis Carrol and Alice)

You are a structured thinking operator and are growing more frustrated and quiet while the room grows louder.

Here’s the Playbook You Need

1. Grab a whiteboard or shared doc.

2. Draw a Giant Capital T.

3. Label the two columns with one of the following or whatever the room needs

   1. Winning vs Losing (one of my clients went so far as to call this column ‘F***ed!”)

   2. Requirements vs Risks

   3. Data vs Opinion

   4. Strategic vs Tactical

   5. Priority vs Distraction

   6. Invest More vs Invest Less

   7. “Roll Your Own - This vs That”

4. The Moderation: Now go around the room and ask the room to fill in the columns

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What Just Happened?

1. You’ve just expertly structured the otherwise chaotic conversation.

2. You’ve captured ideas neutrally.

3. The opinions are now in a foundational format to drive decisions.

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Advanced Plays?

1. Now that you have the “T”, turn it into a Decision Foundational Tool

2. Add Confidence % or Probability % or Risk scores to each bullet in each column

   1. For each bullet in each column, ask:

      • What’s our confidence in this? (1–5 scale or %)

      • What’s the probability that it happens? (%)

3. Now Solve for Time: Draw 3 “sub-columns” inside each T column denoting 6, 12, 18 month timeframes - helping the room answer the “When” question and critical pathing.

4. Finally, Add “Owners” or “Accountability to the items - they are likely in the room

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Now What Has Happened?

You are very close to a structured decision map. Your whiteboard is now a group alignment tool that doesn’t require immediate agreement, it simply needs to be stared at by the room for awhile until the answers on that board really “soak in”.

You’ve now transformed the loud and chaotic opinions into structured insights, layered with forecast discipline.

There may have been other structured thinkers/operators in the room who were just as quiet as you before you stood up. They are now actively engaged and you are getting the best wisdom out of then whole room.

Guess What?

You are now 80% of the way (or more) to your next operating plan revision (or forecast or OKR’s)….and all you did was “Draw a T!”

In tense executive offsites, product strategy meetings, or weekly leadership calls, focusing the room by drawing a “T-Chart” on a whiteboard or Zoom screen has repeatedly created clarity out of rabbit-holing, opinion-based confusion.

The Key Concept Here?

It’s not about being the loudest voice in the room.
It’s about being the leader who separate the signal from the noise in the room

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That’s being a Leadership Magician.

You’ve just pulled a rabbit out of the hat. “Nothing up my sleeve…presto!”

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Why It Works

This framework borrows from classics:

• SWOT Analysis: strengths vs. weaknesses

• Balance Sheets: assets vs. liabilities

• Decision Trees: outcomes and probabilities

I just named it “T-Chart” for CFOs/Operational Leaders to help me/others remember it! And 50% of being effective is remembering to use the powerful tools in your arsenal!

The brilliance is in the simple, real-time utility. It’s not a slide deck. Anyone can “Draw a T” on the board.

I’ve seen founders and clients turn it into one of their standard move.

Use Cases:

• Executive team debates

• Strategic/team off-sites

• Risk-reward tradeoffs

• Board preparation

• Talent decisions

If you’re leading from the seat of Chief Architect of the Business, this framework belongs in your everyday playbook.

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Powerful Question of the Week:

“Can we pause and draw the T here?”

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CFO Sidebar (Paid)

For paid subscribers only: Below is your CFO companion guide with 10+ real-life examples of T-Chart labels and CFO coaching scripts for moderating tense rooms. Includes:

• Product roadmap fights

• Pricing debates

• Fundraising tradeoffs

• Hiring vs not hiring

• Scaling vs pausing

By becoming a paid subscriber, with this post you will get:

1) WHEN TO USE THE T-CHART (Real Use Cases)

2) CFO (Leader) MODERATION SCRIPTS

3) CONFIDENCE LAYERING (Advanced Moderation)

4) CASE EXAMPLE: CFO Moderates Hiring Freeze Debate

Great CFOs don’t argue first. They structure the room. The T-Chart Framework is one of the cleanest ways I know to do it.”

“This is CFO Jedi-level moderation.”