SWOT analysis
A SWOT is simple to the point of being trivial, and it still gets pasted in as a screenshot from a slide deck. Drawn on the page it can be updated during the meeting, which is when the useful edits happen.
The value is entirely in the internal versus external split: strengths and weaknesses are yours, opportunities and threats are not.
#When to reach for one
Strategy and planning sessions.
Competitive analysis and market entry decisions.
Reviewing a proposal where the risks have not been written down.
#How to draw it in Capable
Route | Use when |
|---|---|
draw.io | A four-quadrant layout you can style and reuse. |
Excalidraw | Workshop versions filled in live. |
A page table | When the content matters more than the shape. |
#The split that makes it work
Helpful | Harmful | |
|---|---|---|
Internal | Strengths: what you have and control | Weaknesses: gaps you own |
External | Opportunities: conditions you could exploit | Threats: conditions that could hurt you |
#A few things that catch people out
Strengths and weaknesses are internal; opportunities and threats are external. Mixing them is the classic error.
Be specific. "Good team" is not a strength, "three engineers who have shipped this before" is.
A SWOT with nothing in the weaknesses quadrant has not been done honestly.
#Related
Editable during the meeting beats pretty afterwards.
