Most frameworks teach you to think in straight lines: define the problem, list the options, make the call, execute. Great on a whiteboard but rare in real life.
As a founder or creative leader, decisions rarely happen in one step. They’re shaped over time, looped through different perspectives, stress-tested against shifting realities, and revisited with new information. The best calls don’t come from a single moment of insight. They emerge from pattern recognition and the ability to reframe, pause, or zoom in at the right time.
The value of nonlinear thinking
Linear thinkers want to finish the thought. Nonlinear thinkers want to explore it. Early-stage work leans heavily on the latter. You’re dealing with ambiguity, instinct, constraint, and chaos. That’s not a spreadsheet problem, it’s a rhythm problem.
The power of loops
What works here isn’t rigid structure, it’s a system of loops:
Loops that revisit an idea without spinning in place
Loops that force priorities and tradeoffs to surface
Loops that honor emotion without letting it control you
Loops that separate signal from noise
Seeing your own loops
When I coach founders or lead design teams, I’m not just speeding up execution. I’m helping them see their loops more clearly, knowing whether they’re spotting, weighing, arranging, refining, or ready to make.
The real problem usually isn’t action. It’s knowing what to act on. And that knowing takes time.
The cost of skipping loops
One of the biggest mistakes early-stage thinkers make is confusing movement with progress. Skip the loops and you rush decisions, cling to false certainty, or overbuild in the wrong direction. It’s not a vision problem, it’s a mistrust of circling back.
But my clearest decisions, both in product and in life, have often come on the second or third loop. That’s when an idea clicks differently because it’s had time to evolve or hit a constraint I couldn’t see before. That’s not indecision. That’s the system working.
It’s the same in music. When I’m writing a song, I rarely know it’s “done” after the first pass. Through repetition, both the song and the design refine themselves into a finished piece. It takes playing something over and over, making small changes until finally you know it’s done.
With each pass, layers of ideas settle in, building an underlying structure. At first, it might feel shaky or purely intuitive. But with time and refinement, it becomes solid, memorable, and authentic to the listener. Loops in decision-making work the same way; they give the idea space to find its true form.
A sample loop in action
Spot a pattern, but don’t name it yet.
Weigh it against what you already know and wait to see if it holds.
Arrange the pieces, shifting them into different configurations.
Refine by testing it against a constraint or getting an outside perspective.
Make the call when the signal is strong enough.
Some loops are fast and tight. Others are slow and reflective. The point is to stop forcing decisions before they’re ready and give ideas space to sharpen themselves.
These five stages sit at the core of the SWARM framework, which I am actively developing. The site is evolving, but this loop thinking is the foundation.
Loops reveal the emotional layer
Sometimes you’re not blocked because the idea is bad. You’re blocked because the last thing you built didn’t land, your confidence is low, or you’re reacting instead of responding. Looping helps separate feeling from fact. It gives you a way to step back, let the emotion cool, and return with clearer eyes.
When you feel that emotional weight, write the decision down, then schedule a time, whether tomorrow, next week, or after a key milestone, to revisit it. This turns “I’m stuck” into a defined loop. It gives your mind permission to rest and your judgment a chance to reset.
Bringing others into the loop
Nonlinear thinking can look like chaos if you keep it in your head. Show your loop. Share where you are and what you’re waiting for. People stop seeing ambiguity as confusion and start recognizing it as a process.
I’m working on a simple way to map these loops visually so you can see where you are and what’s next. I’ll share it soon.
The founder’s loop check
If you’re feeling stuck or scattered, ask: Where am I in the loop? Spotting? Weighing? Arranging? Refining? Ready to make?
And if you’re not sure, loop back. That’s the point.