The Great Mental Models

THE GREAT MENTAL MODELS: General Thinking Concepts

by Shane Parrish & Rhiannon Beaubien

How do you make better decisions—faster, smarter, and with fewer blind spots?  In today’s fast-moving world, those who think clearly hold an advantage. This book introduces 9 powerful mental models and 3 supporting ideas used by top leaders, scientists, and strategists to solve complex problems and navigate uncertainty.

In this summary, you’ll learn:

• 9 proven mental models (or proven thinking tools) to sharpen your thinking and improve decision-making. These include how to: Use frameworks appropriately, know your circle of competence, build from a solid foundation, run thought experiments, consider immediate impact and ripple effects, think in probabilities, think in reverse, apply the Occam’s Razor and Hanlon’s Razor.

• 3 supporting ideas for better reasoning, including: falsifiability, necessity vs sufficiency, and correlation vs causation.

Who should read this:

• Professionals and leaders who want to make better decisions and solve problems more effectively.
• Lifelong learners and thinkers who want to sharpen their reasoning, see issues from multiple angles, and make clearer, faster, more reliable choices.
• Educators, coaches, and advisors looking for tools to guide others in thinking better, making decisions, and avoiding common mental traps.