Sunday, October 23, 2022

Book Review - The great mental models by Shane Parrish

Finished this #book recently - The great #mentalmodels by Shane Parrish.

The premise for one to read the book is - In life and business, the person with the fewest blind spots wins. 

Blind spots are areas which which we don’t know that we don’t know. 

Until, we figure multiple mental models which people apply across disciplines, we would be at the mercy of our default mental models. 

Mental models describe the way the world works. They shape how we think, understand, and form beliefs. These are largely at play in subconscious!

Some of the key Mental Models from the book:

#firstprinciples Thinking

Break a complicated concept/problem to building blocks, the first principles. Remove all existing beliefs or assumptions. What remains are the essentials. 

First-principles expose the boundaries that you have to work within. From this, you can challenge the fundamental assumptions of the situation more effectively. It’s a must have Recipie for disruption.

How to arrive at them - 5 Why’s is a good approach. Keep asking why at each level till u have at least five whys. 

#SecondOrderThinking

When making choices, consider not just immediate; but distantsecond and subsequent order consequences that help you avoid future problems. When making a decision, ask this question: And then what?

#Inversion

Inversion means approaching a situation from the opposite end of the natural starting point. Start by assuming that what you’re trying to prove is either true or false, then show what else would have to be true. 

Sherlock homes was assigned a task of finding x is having a valuable picture. Straight approach is to first assess if x has that picture - Search the house to figure etc. 

Inversion is to assume x has the picture. He burns nearby area to create panic for x to leave house. X runs out with valuable picture out herself! Power of inversion!

Any other book on mental models you recommend?

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