# Thinking Kepner Tregoe

Use when a selective defect needs IS/IS-NOT difference analysis or a consequential...

- Repository: https://github.com/tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills (1690 stars)
- Category: Engineering
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-08-07
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills --skill thinking-kepner-tregoe -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills --skill thinking-kepner-tregoe -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills --skill thinking-kepner-tregoe -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills --skill thinking-kepner-tregoe -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills`

## Description

Use when a selective defect needs IS/IS-NOT difference analysis or a consequential option choice needs must/want weighting and adverse-consequence comparison.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Kepner-Tregoe Analysis

**Core rule:** Diagnose deviations by testing causes against both IS and IS-NOT. Compare consequential choices by screening MUSTs, weighting WANTs, and exposing adverse consequences before selecting.

## When to Use

- A defect affects some objects, places, times, or cohorts but not comparable others.
- Several candidate causes remain and the contrast boundary can discriminate them.
- A consequential option choice has explicit non-negotiables, competing objectives, and risks that should be compared consistently.

## When NOT to Use

- A uniform failure has no meaningful IS-NOT contrast, or the cause is already confirmed.
- One cheap observation settles the cause or one option plainly dominates every requirement.
- The criteria cannot be made operational; clarify them before assigning weights.
- The task is forward failure discovery for a planned change rather than diagnosis or option selection.

## Procedure

The rest: https://github.com/tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills/blob/HEAD/skills/thinking-kepner-tregoe/SKILL.md