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100 Mental Models To Make You A Worldly
Wise Person
Transform confusion into curiosity, certainty into skepticism and frustrations into
fascinations.
Tom Chanter
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Sep 22, 2019 · 22 min read
Photo by Zdeněk Macháček on Unsplash
I’ve always felt that our world has an innate topsy-turvy logic that I can’t make sense of.
Reading Charlie Munger’s speeches on Mental Models, I realized I was right. And wrong.
The world is bizarre, but we can make sense of it. And yet I never bothered diving deep
into Mental Models.
But reading Gabriel Weinberg’s list of Mental Models, the truth hit home — what I didn’t
know was hurting me. And so it began. I started collecting my favorite models, finding
examples, and rewriting them in my own words. Still, I never shared my collection.
Munger and Weinberg had it covered.
Then my Mental Model collection and commonplace book collided. As I was building my
Mental Model collection on Evernote, I was simultaneously building a commonplace
book with physical note cards, where I collect great lines from literature and unorthodox
quotes from history’s wisest humans. Slowly, more and more connections emerged.
So I began pairing the practical with the poetic — the analytical left-brain models with
the intuitive right-brain quotes. I didn’t want to only connect the Mental Models with
each other, but with books, people and ideas that meant something to me. I wanted
them to be better together. That mission led to this list.
The 100 Mental Models are sorted into 15 sections:
PHYSICS (the foundations of our galaxies best thinkers)
SCIENCE & SCIENTISM (truth vs facts)
EVOLUTION (it’s not what you think)
STATISTICS (174% of ‘facts’ are misleading)
PSYCHOLOGY (humans are weird)
BUSINESS 101 (for owners not accountants)
TOOLS for ANALYSIS (meta-thinking)
DECISION MAKING (be less wrong)
ARGUING vs NEGOTIATING (winning arguments vs winning)
INTERPERSONAL (soft skills are underrated)
THE DARK ARTS (persuasion hacks)
CREATIVITY (breaking boundaries)
SUCCESS PATTERNS (open secrets to success)
PRODUCTIVITY (read this first)
KEYS of STRATEGY (connecting the dots)
PHYSICS (the foundations of our galaxies best thinkers)
The foundations of the universe (and our galaxies best thinkers).
1. First Principles
First principles thinking is removing all assumptions and looking only at what has been
proven. And then reasoning up from facts.
Reasonable minds often disagree when an underlying premise differs.
Read more.
2. Inertia
The resistance of any physical object to any change in its state of motion; this includes
changes to its speed, direction or state of rest.
“The less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it.” ― Mark
Twain
Read more.
3. Activation Energy
Activation energy is the least amount of energy required to activate atoms or molecules
to a state in which they can undergo a chemical reaction.
“The secret to getting ahead is getting started.” ― Mark Twain
Read more.
4. Critical Mass
Critical mass is the minimum amount of fissile material (such as uranium or plutonium)
needed to maintain a nuclear chain reaction.
In social dynamics, critical mass is a sufficient number of adopters of an innovation in a
social system, so that the rate of adoption becomes self-sustaining and creates further
growth.
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” ― Helen Keller
Read more.
5. Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
The more precisely the position of a particle is determined, the less precisely its
momentum can be known, and vice versa.
“It is better to be roughly right than precisely wrong.” ― John Maynard Keynes
Read more.
6. Observer Effect
The act of observing influences the phenomena being observed.
“The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.” ― Robertson Davies
Read more.
SCIENCE & SCIENTISM (truth vs facts)
7. Half-life
The time required for a quantity to reduce to half its initial value.
“Energy has a way of dissipating, you know; what can be done when you’re eleven can often
never be done again.” ― Stephen King.
Read more.
8. Scientific Method
The systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation,
testing, and modification of a hypothesis.
“Nullius in Verba / On no man’s word.” — Royal Society of London
Read more.
9. Reproducibility
The ability of an experiment or study to be duplicated.
“All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and
repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.” ― Sophocles
Read more.
10. False Positives and False Negatives
A false positive is a test result which wrongly indicates that a particular state is present.
A false negative is a test result which indicates that a particular condition is absent.
“False facts are highly injurious to the progress of science, for they often endure long; but
false views, if supported by some evidence, do little harm, for everyone takes a salutary
pleasure in proving their falseness; and when this is done, one path towards error is closed
and the road to truth is often at the same time opened.” ― Charles Darwin
Read more.
11. Precautionary Principle
If an action or policy may cause harm to the public or the environment, in the absence of
scientific consensus, the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those taking
action.
“Precaution is better than cure.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Read more.
12. Paradigm Shift
The usual or accepted way of doing something changes completely.
“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without
changing our thinking.” ― Albert Einstein
Read more.
13. Planck’s Principle
A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them
see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die and a new generation
grows up that is familiar with it.
“Science advances one funeral at a time.” ― Max Planck
Read more.
EVOLUTION (it’s not what you think)
14. Evolutionarily Stable Strategy
A behavioral strategy which, if adopted by a population in a given environment, natural
selection alone is sufficient to prevent alternate strategies from invading.
“Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.” ― Carl Sagan
Read more.
15. Generalist vs Specialist Species
A generalist species is able to thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions, while
a specialist species can thrive only in a narrow range of environmental conditions.
“A fox knows many things, but a hedgehog one important thing.” — Archilochus
Read more.
16. Punctuated Equilibrium
When a species has been alive for so long that they appear in the fossil record (the
record of the occurrence and evolution of living organisms through geological time as
inferred from fossils), they stop evolving.
They reach stasis.
Then when significant evolutionary change does occur we can see the species break into
two distinct species — like humans and chimps.
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best
manage change.” ― Leon C. Megginson
Read more.
STATISTICS (174% of ‘facts’ are misleading)
17. Power-Laws
Power-Laws are things that grow in power exponentially, rather than linearly.
“The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential
function.” — Albert Allen Bartlett
Read more.
18. Pareto Principle
Roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.
“…The 80/20 rule is only metaphorical; it is not a rule, even less a rigid law. In the U.S.
book business, the proportions are more like 97/20 (i.e., 97 percent of book sales are made
by 20 percent of the authors)” — Nassim Taleb
Read more.
19. Long Tail
The large number of products that sell in small quantities (niche products) can exceed
the sales volume of a few best-selling products.
“Up until now, the focus has been on dozens of markets of millions, instead of millions of
markets of dozens.” — Joe Kraus
Read more.
20. Normal Distribution
A normal distribution is an arrangement of a data set in which most values cluster in the
middle of the range and the rest taper off symmetrically toward either extreme.
“An approximate answer to the right problem is worth a good deal more than an exact
answer to an approximate problem.” — John Tukey
Read more.
21. Confidence Interval
A percentage estimate (i.e. 95%) of how confident we are that the actual value lies
within the range (interval) of our estimated value.
“There are three types of lies — lies, damn lies, and statistics.” ― Benjamin Disraeli
Read more.
22. The Monte Carlo Fallacy
The mistaken belief that if something happens more frequently than normal during one
time period — then it will happen less frequently in the next time period.
(Or that if something happens less frequently than normal during some period, it will
happen more frequently in the future.)
“I am not in the position to sacrifice the necessary in the hope of winning the superfluous.”
― Alexander Pushkin
Read more.
23. False Cause
Presuming that a real or perceived relationship between things means that one is the
cause of the other. A correlation between two variables doesn’t not necessarily imply
that one variable causes the other.
“It looks as if the offspring have eyes so that they can see well (bad, teleological, backward
causation), but that’s an illusion. The offspring have eyes because their parents’ eyes did see
well (good, ordinary, forward causation).” ― Steven Pinker
Read more.
24. Local vs Global Optimum
In an optimization problem, a local optimum is a solution that is optimal within a
neighbouring set of candidate solutions. In contrast, a global optimum is the optimal
solution among all possible solutions, not just those in a particular neighbourhood of
values.
“Mathematics is the science of what is clear by itself.” — Carl Jacobi
Read more.
25. Inflection Point
The point on a curve where the direction of the curvature changes.
“In a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is more productive than
energy devoted to patching leaks.” — Warren Buffett
Read more.
26. Order of Magnitude
An estimate of a variable whose precise value is unknown and estimated to the nearest
power of ten.
“Mathematics would certainly have not come into existence if one had known from the
beginning that there was in nature no exactly straight line, no actual circle, no absolute
magnitude.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
Read more.
27. Simpson’s Paradox
A paradox in probability and statistics, in which a trend appears in different groups of
data but disappears or reverses when these groups are combined.
“Don’t cross a river if it is four feet deep on average.” ― Nassim Taleb
Read more.
28. Bayes’ Theorem
Prior knowledge of conditions related to an event can be used to give a more accurate
estimation of that event.
“The wise man is one who, knows, what he does not know.” ― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
Read more.
29. Black Swan Theory
A black swan is an event that is completely unexpected and extremely difficult to predict
— yet these events do occur.
“Remember that you are a Black Swan” — Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Read more.
PSYCHOLOGY (humans are weird)
30. Fundamental Attribution Error
“When we look at others we see personality traits that explain their behavior, but when
we look at ourselves we see circumstances that explain our behavior … we explain by
permanent, enduring traits what would be better explained by circumstance and
context.” — Eliezer Yudkowsky.
“Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions.” ― T.S. Eliot
Read more.
31. Thinking Fast vs Thinking Slow
A dichotomy between two modes of thought: ‘System 1’ is fast, instinctive and
emotional; ‘System 2’ is slower, more deliberative, and more logical.
“Our comforting conviction that the world makes sense rests on a secure foundation: our
almost unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance.” — Daniel Kahneman
Read more.
32. Intuition
Personal experience coded into your personal neural network, which means your
intuition is dangerous outside the bounds of your personal experience.
“All perceiving is also thinking, all reasoning is also intuition, all observation is also
invention.” — Rudolf Arnheim
Read more.
33. Cognitive Biases
Cognitive biases are mistakes in our rational reasoning, remembering, and other
cognitive processes — due to our subjective interpretations rather than observing
verifiable data.
“Humankind cannot bear very much reality.” — T. S. Eliot
Read more.
34. Selection Bias
The selection of individuals, groups or data for analysis that is not random. That means
that sample chosen is not truly representative of the real-world.
“Living is easy with [your] eyes closed.” ― John Lennon
Read more.
35. Availability Bias
When making a decision, people rely more on information and events that are more
recent, that were observed personally and that were more memorable.
“The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.” ― Robertson Davies
Read more.
36. Confirmation Bias
The tendency to search for, interpret, favour, and recall information in a way that
confirms one’s preexisting beliefs or hypotheses, while giving disproportionately less
consideration to alternative possibilities.
“People put a lot less effort into picking apart evidence that confirms what they already
believe.” ― Peter Watts
Read more.
37. Hindsight Bias
Seeing a past event as predictable, despite there being no objective basis for predicting
it.
“If you feel like you knew it all along, it means you won’t stop to examine why something
really happened.” — Neal Roese
Read more.
BUSINESS 101 (for owners not accountants)
38. Time Value of Money
Time Value of Money: Money is worth more now than in the future — because you can
earn interest or invest it.
“Every time you borrow money, you’re robbing your future self.” — Nathan W. Morris
Read more.
39. Premature Optimisation
Premature optimisation is optimising something before it has been sufficiently tested.
“We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature
optimization is the root of all evil. Yet we should not pass up our opportunities in that
critical 3%” — Donald Knuth
Read more.
40. Organisational Debt
The short-term sacrifices of a company that will inhibit its long-term performance.
“Just when things should be going great, organizational debt can turn a growing company
into a chaotic nightmare.” — Steve Blank
Read more.
41. Strategy Tax
A company may sacrifice the competitiveness or quality of one product, in order to
further the cause of another product.
“You can have anything you want — you just can’t have everything you want.”
Read more.
42. Cost-Benefit Analysis
A cost-benefit analysis is weighing the expected costs, against the expected benefits — to
determine the best course of action.
“My way is to divide half a sheet of paper by a line into two columns; writing over the one
Pro and over the other Con. Then during three or four days’ consideration, I put down under
the different heads short hints of the different motives, that at different time occur to me, for
or against the measure. When I have thus got them altogether in one view, I endeavor to
estimate their respective weights; and where I find two, one on each side, that seem equal, I
strike them both out. If I judge some two reasons con equal to some three reasons pro, I
strike out five; and thus proceeding, I find where the balance lies; and if after a day or two of
further consideration, nothing new that is of importance occurs on either side, I come to a
determination accordingly.” — Benjamin Franklin
Read more.
43. Sunk Cost
A cost that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered.
“Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold.” ― Thomas Jefferson
Read more.
44. Opportunity Cost
The benefit a person or company could have received, but gave up to take another
course of action.
“Economics is the study of how to get the most out of life.” — Tyler Cowen
Read more.
TOOLS for ANALYSIS (meta-thinking)
45. Systems Thinking
Considering the effect of both the individual components of a system, as well as the
effect of the relationship between those components.
“Systems and processes will always surpass motivation.” ― Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu
Jitsu
Read more.
46. Sensitivity Analysis
Sensitivity Analysis: Identifying how the uncertainty of individual inputs of a system
effect the uncertainty of the system as a whole.
“The only people who see the whole picture are the ones who step outside the frame.” ―
Salman Rushdie
Read more.
47. Simulation
The imitation of a real-life situation or system.
“All models are wrong, but some are useful.” — George E. P. Box
Read more.
48. Scenario Analysis
Scenario Analys is predicting and planning for several possible outcomes and their
implications.
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” ― Benjamin Franklin
Read more.
49. Proximate vs Root Cause
A proximate cause is immediately responsible for a problem. The root cause is the
underlying reason. It’s the difference between a symptom and the actual issue.
“Shallow men believe in luck or in circumstance. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” ―
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Read more.
50. Second Order Effects
First order effects directly follow from a cause, while second order effects follow from
first order effects.
“We are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequence of our actions.”
— Stephen Covey
Read more.
51. Theory of Constraints
The Theory of Constraints recognises that productivity is limited by a very small number
of constraints.
“A chain is no stronger than its weakest link.”
Read more.
52. Proxy
A variable that is not in itself directly relevant, but that serves in place of an
unobservable or immeasurable variable.
“Nature will not be admired by proxy.” — Winston Churchill
Read more.
53. Goodhart’s Law
When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.
“It is impossible to escape the impression that people commonly use false standards of
measurement — that they seek power, success and wealth for themselves and admire them
in others, and that they underestimate what is of true value in life.” ― Sigmund Freud
Read more.
DECISION MAKING (be less wrong)
54. OODA Loop
The decision cycle of observe, orient, decide, and act.
“Understanding the OODA loop enables a commander to compress time — that is, the time
between observing a situation and taking an action. A commander can use the temporal
discrepancy (a form of fast transient) to select the least-expected action rather than what is
predicted to be the most effective action. The enemy can also figure out what might be the
most effective. To take the least-expected action disorients the enemy. It causes him to pause,
wonder, to question.” ― Robert Coram
Read more.
55. Decision Trees
A graph that uses a branching method to illustrate every possible decision and their
consequences.
“It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” ― Roy Disney
Read more.
56. Black or White
Thinking in extremes and not perceiving the middle-ground of a decision.
“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.” —
Elon Musk
Read more.
57. Wisdom of the Crowd
A large group’s aggregated answers to questions involving quantity estimation, general
world knowledge, and spatial reasoning has generally been found to be as good as, and
often better than, the answer given by any of the individuals within the group.
“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” ― Socrates
Read more.
58. Groupthink
The desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or
dysfunctional decision-making outcome.
“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” —
Mark Twain
Read more.
59. Path Dependence
The set of decisions we face today are limited by the decisions we’ve made in the past,
even if the past circumstances are no longer relevant.
“History matters.”
Read more.
60. Fermi Problem
A question that seeks a fast, rough estimate of quantity which is either difficult or
impossible to measure directly.
“The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has
around him.” ― Niccolò Machiavelli
Read more.
61. Anecdotal Evidence
Using an isolated example or personal experience to determine that something is true,
false, related or unrelated.
“Anecdotal thinking comes naturally; science requires training.” — Michael Shermer
Read more.
62. Maslow’s Hammer
If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
“Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshipped.” ― Calvin
Coolidge
Read more.
63. Occam’s Razor
Among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected.
“The simplest explanation is usually true.” — William of Ockham
Read more.
64. Consequence vs Conviction
When making a decision, if there are low consequences and you have a weak conviction,
you should delegate the decision. You can let employees make their own mistakes and
learn.
But if there are high consequences and you have a strong conviction, you must make the
decision.
“I have a fantastic team of people who run the Virgin companies, who have a lot of freedom
to run the companies as if they were their own companies, I give them the freedom to make
mistakes.” — Richard Branson
Read more.
ARGUING vs NEGOTIATING (winning arguments vs winning)
65. Straw Man
Giving the impression of refuting an opponent’s argument, while refuting an argument
that was not advanced by that opponent.
“Some books against Deism fell into my hands… It happened that they wrought an effect on
me quite contrary to what was intended by them; for the arguments of the Deists, which
were quoted to be refuted, appeared to me much stronger than the refutations; in short, I
soon became a thorough Deist.” — Benjamin Franklin
Read more.
66. Slippery Slope
Asserting that if we allow A to happen, then Z will eventually happen, so we must not
allow A to happen.
“I think you’ve got to be very, very careful when you start making blanket statements about
what people say and think, as opposed to what they do. It’s a very, very slippery slope.” —
Mark Cuban
Read more.
67. Ad Hominem
An argument is rebutted by attacking the person’s character or motive rather than
attacking the argument itself.
“I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if
they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.” —
Margaret Thatcher
Read more.
68. Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement (BATNA)
The most advantageous alternative course of action a party can take if negotiations fail
and an agreement cannot be reached.
“He who has learned to disagree without being disagreeable has discovered the most
valuable secret of a diplomat.” — Robert Estabrook
Read more.
INTERPERSONAL (soft skills are underrated)
69. High-context vs Low-context Culture
In a higher-context culture, many things are left unsaid, letting the culture explain them.
In a low-context culture, communication is more explicit.
“Words and word choice becomes more important the higher-context the culture, as a few
words can communicate a complex message very effectively to an in-group.”
Read more.
70. Active Listening
Fully concentrating, understanding, responding, and remembering what is being said.
“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”
― Stephen R. Covey
Read more.
71. Confirming Conversations
The listener repeats back what they have just heard to confirm understanding of both
parties. It avoids any misunderstandings.
“The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.” ― Peter Drucker
Read more.
72. Most Respectful Interpretation
Assume the best of others, considering only the best, kindest, most helpful
interpretation of every communication and responding solely to that version.
“Give a good deed the credit of a good motive; and give an evil deed the benefit of the doubt.”
— Brander Matthews
Read more.
73. Hanlon’s Razor
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by carelessness or stupidity.
“Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.” — Napoleon
Bonaparte
Read more.
THE DARK ARTS (persuasion hacks)
74. Appeal To Emotion
The manipulation of emotions in order to win an argument, especially in the absence of
factual evidence.
[When wisdom is used for evil] “I use emotion for the many and reserve reason for the few.”
― Adolf Hitler
Read more.
75. Loss Aversion
People would rather avoid losses than acquire gains.
“Money does not buy you happiness, but lack of money certainly buys you misery.” —
Daniel Kahneman
Read more.
76. Broken Windows Theory
Maintaining and monitoring urban environments to prevent small crimes such as
vandalism and public drinking helps create an atmosphere of lawfulness and order,
therefore preventing more serious crimes from occurring.
“One unrepaired broken window is a signal that no one cares, and so breaking more
windows costs nothing.” — James Q. Wilson
Read more.
77. Streisand Effect
An attempt to hide, remove, or censor a piece of information has the unintended
consequence of publicizing the information more widely.
“When you tear out a man’s tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you’re only telling the
world that you fear what he might say.” ― George R.R. Martin
Read more.
78. Bandwagon Effect
The rate of uptake of beliefs, ideas and trends increases the more they have already been
adopted by others. The effect of people moulding their behaviour to receive validation.
“What motivates most gold purchasers is their belief that the ranks of the fearful will grow
… As ‘bandwagon’ investors join any party, they create their own truth — for a while.” —
Warren Buffett
Read more.
CREATIVITY (breaking boundaries)
79. Lateral Thinking
Solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that isn’t
obvious and involving ideas that are not obtained through step-by-step logical thinking.
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something,
they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed
obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve
had and synthesise new things.” — Steve Jobs
Read more.
80. Divergent vs Convergent Thinking
Divergent thinking is a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by
exploring many possible solutions.
It is often used in conjunction with its cognitive opposite, convergent thinking.
Convergent thinking follows a particular set of logical steps to arrive at one solution,
which in some cases is a ‘correct’ solution.
“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.” ― Plutarch
Read more.
81. Thought Experiment
Imagining the potential consequences of an action.
“Strap a piece of toast -buttered side up- to the back of a cat. Throw the cat out of the
window. Will the cat land on its feet or will Murphy’s law apply?” ― Alan Fletcher
Read more.
SUCCESS PATTERNS (open secrets to success)
82. Abundance Mentality vs Scarcity Mindset
An abundance mentality sees there are enough resources and successes to share with
others. A scarcity mindset thinks that if someone else is successful it means you lose.
“Let not your mind run on what you lack as much as on what you have already.” — Marcus
Aurelius
Read more.
83. Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset
Having a fixed mindset means you believe your abilities are innate, while having a
growth mindset means you believe you can acquire a greater ability if you invest the
effort and study.
“Children given praise such as “good job, you’re very smart” are much more likely to develop
a fixed mindset, whereas if given compliments like “good job, you worked very hard” they
are likely to develop a growth mindset.”
Read more.
84. Pygmalion Effect
Higher expectations lead to an increase in performance.
“People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things.
When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success.” — Norman Vincent
Peale
Read more.
85. Carrot and Stick
We can offer either a reward or threaten a punishment, or both, to induce good
behaviour.
“I think any writer is a fool if he doesn’t do it for money. There needs to be some kind of
incentive in addition to the project. It all goes together. It’s fun to sit there and think of
characters and get them into action, then be paid for it.” — Elmore Leonard
Read more.
86. The Expert Problem
A difficulty in imagining what it is like for someone else not to know something that you
know. That’s why experts make poor teachers.
“Anyone who wants to lift the curse of knowledge must first appreciate what a devilish curse
it is. Like a drunk who is too impaired to realize that he is too impaired to drive, we do not
notice because the curse prevents us from noticing.” — Steven Pinker
Read more.
87. Peter Principle
The selection of a candidate for a position is based on the candidate’s performance in
their current role, rather than on abilities relevant to the intended role.
“Managers rise to the level of their incompetence.”
Read more.
88. Survivorship Bias
The logical error of concentrating on people or things that ‘survived’ a process and
inadvertently overlooking those that did not because of their lack of visibility.
“Ability is of little account without opportunity.” ― Napoléon Bonaparte
Read more.
PRODUCTIVITY (read this first)
89. Parkinson’s Law
Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.
“Delay is the deadliest form of denial.” — Cyril Northcote Parkinson
Read more.
90. Short-termism
An excessive focus on short-term results at the expense of long term interests.
“Everyone who has worked with American management can testify that the need to satisfy
the pension fund manager’s quest for higher earnings next quarter, together with the
panicky fear of the raider, constantly pushes top management toward decisions they know
to be costly, if not suicidal, mistakes.” — Peter Drucker
Read more.
91. Diffusion of Responsibility
A person is less likely to take responsibility for action or inaction when others are
present.
“The price of greatness is responsibility.” ― Winston S. Churchill
Read more.
92. Forcing Function
Any task, activity or event that forces you to take action and produce a result.
“Instead of freaking out about these constraints, embrace them. Let them guide you.
Constraints drive innovation and force focus. Instead of trying to remove them, use them to
your advantage.” — David Heinemeier Hansson, Matthew Linderman, Jason Fried
Read more.
93. Diminishing Returns
Diminishing Returns: Beyond a certain point, the rate of profit, production, or benefit
fails to increase proportionally with added investment, effort, or skill.
“The Law of Diminishing Returns is true of everything in life, except sex, which seems
endlessly repeatable with effect.” ― Robert McKee
Read more.
KEYS of STRATEGY (connecting the dots)
94. Preserving Optionality
Waiting as long as possible to nail down the factors, decisions, or variables that are
hardest to undo once they’ve been settled on.
“People overestimate their knowledge and underestimate the probability of their being
wrong”. — Nassim Taleb
Read more.
95. Zero-Sum Vs Non-Zero-Sum
A zero-sum situation means for someone to gain something, someone else must lose
something.
In contrast, a non-zero-sum situation is when the aggregate gains of a group is greater
than their aggregate losses.
“It is sort of a bit of a caricature of capitalism, that it’s always this zero-sum game where
you have winners and losers. Silicon Valley, the technology industry at its best, creates a
situation where everybody can be a winner.” — Peter Thiel
Read more.
96. Unintended Consequences
Unforeseen outcomes that are not intended by purposeful action.
“We are free to choose our paths, but we can’t choose the consequences that come with
them.” ― Sean Covey
Read more.
97. Cobra Effect
When an attempted solution to a problem actually makes the problem worse.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them” ― Albert
Einstein
Read more.
98. Trade-offs
A situation where you lose something in order to gain something else.
“I think it’s a false trade-off to say quality time versus quantity — you have to have both.” —
Hillary Clinton
Read more.
99. Nash Equilibrium
Every person in a group makes the optimal decision for himself, based on what he thinks
others will do. And nobody can do better by changing strategy: every member of the
group is doing as well as they possibly can.
“Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.”
― Oscar Wilde
Read more.
100. Lead Domino
Knocking over the first domino will knock over the rest. The most important task is the
first one.
“The mob rushes in where individuals fear to tread.” ― B.F. Skinner
Read more.
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