The Frame of Alternatives is used to view a circumstance, subject, or an outcome in different ways so that you can find applicable alternative information, thoughts, feelings, actionable paths, etc.
Typical thinking prompts might be:
What are my alternatives here?
What other ways can I look at this?
What other ways could someone else look at this?
See: What Are Thinking Prompts and What Can They Do for Your Knowledge and Understanding of a Subject
Let’s take the below scenario for example:
*Bobby popped my red ball and I am extremely angry.
The circumstance is the fact that Bobby popped my red ball.
My response is that I am angry about it.
You can reframe the circumstance, my response, or both to find alternatives:
Bobby accidentally popped my red ball and I will forgive him.
Bobby purposefully popped my red ball and he will pay.
I don’t know if Bobby meant to pop my ball or not, but I will be friends with him anyway.
The above example is not exhaustive, but you can plainly see how the scenario changes with each alternative.
Let’s look at this piece of information:
Plants can survive on rain water.
Reframe this information to look at alternatives:
Can plants survive in heavily acidic rain water, salty water, coffee, tea, milk…?
What are alternate methods of watering plants besides rain?
What are plants that can survive on little rain instead?
Note: The Frame of Alternatives closely relates to The Frame of What If and Possibility and can often times work in conjunction with each other.
To explore more frames see: A List of Ways You Can Frame and Reframe Thoughts and Information