Mental models for real work


The same ideas that shape clear thinking, re-sorted by what you actually do. Each page is the thinking tools a practitioner of that work reasons with — how each one applies, and the biases that trip it up.

Mental models for investing

The mental models serious investors actually use — margin of safety, Mr. Market, expected value, moats — and the biases that wreck investing returns.

12 models · 7 biases

Mental models for building a startup

The mental models founders actually use to build a startup — first principles, MVPs, flywheels, moats and premortems — with the biases that sink most.

13 models · 7 biases

Mental models for negotiation

The mental models for negotiation serious dealmakers actually use — BATNA, anchoring, interests over positions — and the biases that sink good deals.

12 models · 7 biases

Mental models for product management

The mental models product managers actually use — prioritization, metrics, moats, and the biases that wreck product decisions. A practitioner's toolkit.

12 models · 8 biases

Mental models for leadership & managing people

The mental models great leaders use to manage people — incentives, second-order thinking, Goodhart's law, the Peter principle — and the biases to avoid.

11 models · 7 biases

Mental models for career growth

Mental models for career growth the best professionals use — compounding, leverage, circle of competence — to specialize, decide, and advance.

12 models · 6 biases

Mental models for persuasion & marketing

The thinking tools behind persuasion and marketing — reciprocity, social proof, framing, anchoring, loss aversion — and the biases that sink campaigns.

11 models · 6 biases

Mental models for learning

Mental models to learn faster and remember more: compounding, first principles, the forgetting curve, and the fluency illusion that wrecks studying.

12 models · 6 biases

Mental models for writing clearly

Mental models a clear writer and thinker actually uses — first principles, Occam's razor, via negativa — to reason precisely and write so readers get it.

11 models · 6 biases

Mental models for hiring

The mental models that separate signal from an impressive interview — base rates, regression to the mean, signal vs. noise — and the biases (halo, confirmation, in-group) that wreck hiring.

9 models · 8 biases