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14 Mental Models to Help You (And Me) Think Clearly, Rationally, and Effectively
Here’s some good news: You can train your brain to think faster and work smarter.
I first became curious about mental models while watching Gray’s Anatomy with my wife one day. In this particular episode, the resident surgeon made a call to treat a patient with a certain method that he was familiar with. It turned out the decision was inaccurate given the situation. A more appropriate procedure existed, however, this resident had fallen victim to what the availability bias. The availability bias is a mental shortcut that relies on immediate, stored examples in the person’s mind when evaluating a situation, concept, method or decision.
This spurred my interest in decision making and lead me to explore mental models.
A mental model provides a framework for us to check a concept, framework, decision, method, or worldview to help us interpret and understand the relationship between things. Mental models support clear, objective thinking to aid in the likelihood of success. And more importantly, mental models support less irrationality.
In the landscape of modern life, there is no shortage of inputs. On the regular, we are bombarded with new information, presented with new situations and swarmed with varying scenarios that all need…
