Mental Models

Mental models are thinking shortcuts kept when they survive real decisions.

Key Concept

• Mainstream mental models for decisions and performance - note the ones that earn repeat use.
• Level 1: Keep the simple thinking tools that help you decide again and again - like keeping only the tools in your box that you actually use, not every gadget you ever bought.
• Level 2: Mental models are reusable frames for decisions - note the few you actually reach for, not every framework you read once.
• Level 3: A mental model earns a place when you use it twice under pressure - the rest is shelf decoration.
• Level 4: After a hard call, name which frame helped - if none did, you are collecting models, not thinking with them.
• Level 5: Decision Quality and Behavioral Economics supply candidates - Pareto Principle and Minimum Effective Dose are examples that survived contact with real choices.
• A model nobody reaches for is the same problem as a junk-drawer bookmark - recall under pressure is the value.
• Mental models are thinking shortcuts I keep when they survive real decisions.
• Retire the model when real decisions prove it wrong.
• I note the mental models that earn repeat use in real decisions - retire the rest.

Examples

• The restaurant had twelve menu tweaks on the whiteboard - I picked the two that actually cut ticket times and shelved the rest.
• Waze showed four commute routes - I stuck to the one that saves gas on the Tuesday school run, not the scenic detour.

Note Relationships