The Great Mental Models Project

The Great Mental Models project is the clearest way to change the way you see the world, avoid problems before they happen, and make better decisions.

The series consists of four volumes that cover the core, timeless, ideas that you should have learned in school and applies them to real life.

This instant Wall-Street Journal bestseller is the breakthrough guide you need to improve your thinking.

Acquiring Wisdom

In life and business, the person with the fewest blind spots wins. Removing blind spots means we see, interact with, and move closer to understanding reality. We think better.

The skill for finding the right solutions for the right problems is one form of wisdom.

We must be open to other perspectives if we truly want to understand the results of our actions.

First Principles Thinking

First principles thinking is one of the best ways to reverse-engineer complicated situations and unleash creative possibility. Sometimes called reasoning from first principles, it's a tool to help clarify complicated problems by separating the underlying ideas or facts from any assumptions based on them.

Sometimes we don't want to fine-tune what is already there. We are skeptical, or curious, and are not interested in accepting what already exists as our starting point. So when we start with the idea that the way things are might not be the way they have to be, we put ourselves in the right frame of mind to identify first principles. The real power of first principles thinking is moving away from random change and into choices that have a real possibility of success.

Second-Order Thinking

Second-order thinking is thinking farther ahead and thinking holistically. It requires us to not only consider our actions and their immediate consequences but the subsequent effects of those actions as well.

Second-order thinking teaches us two important concepts that underlie the use of this model. If we're interested in understanding how the world really works, we must include second and subsequent effects. We must be as observant as we can about the web of connections are operating in.

Inversion

There are two approaches to applying inversion in your life.

1. Start by assuming that what you're trying to prove is either true or false, then show what else would have to be true.
2. Instead of aiming directly for your goal, think deeply about what you want to avoid and then see what options are left over.

Thoughts

General Thinking Concepts gave me a major boost in improving my critical thinking. It made me understand that in most cases people tend to look at a problem only from their perspective. For the best results, we should be critical enough from all parties included.

In order to ensure the highest probability for the project to be successful, an engineer should not only look at it from a tech perspective but should try to understand the business needs, values and pitfalls as well. Glad that we were doing this a long time ago.

Acquiring wisdom is always a key factor in moving forward toward your goals. You cannot be successful if you don't know the background and field you're trying to work in unless you're very lucky. We need to push ourselves to try and understand what blind spots we have and start removing them.