Reciprocity is Good Until It Isn’t
Reciprocity is essential for group function. It enables trades across time through informal IOUs – “Help me today, and I’ll help you tomorrow.” These IOUs exist because of trust between people, and in turn strengthen that trust. This exchange forms the foundation of social contracts dating back to our earliest days: “You watch the children […]
Thinking Traps (Part 3)
A mental model malfunctioning or producing an unplanned result is called a “thinking trap.” Here are some common examples. Remember, we all fall victim to these at some point. We are poor estimators. We are remarkably bad at predicting the future and estimating how things will work out. We are even worse at estimating how happy […]
Thinking Traps (Part 2)
A mental model malfunctioning or producing an unplanned result is called a “thinking trap.” Here are some common examples. Remember, we all fall victim to these at some point. We assume the future will be like the past. We take the same route to work every day without thought, and usually, it works just fine. We […]
Thinking Traps (Part 1)
I have written previously about “mental models.” A mental model that malfunctions or produces an unplanned result is called a “thinking trap.” Here are some common examples. Remember, we all fall victim to these at some point. We focus on the wrong things. We live overstimulated lives, which we attempt to process through a working […]
How Do You Know You Have Made a “Good” Decision
How do you know you have made a good decision? It is tempting to say, “By the results I achieve”. If only it were that easy. Consider this example: “How do you know you made the right career choice?” Which results? When you achieve some great success? When you receive some award? Because you made […]
Check Your Mental Models
We create mental models to help us organize the complicated aspects of our lives. They are combinations of emotions and verbal and non-verbal stimuli. The term ‘model’ is useful: Models aren’t the thing; they are just representations of it. They contain only as much detail as necessary. They serve as mental shorthand. Mental models are […]
The Cure for Bad Information
We naturally gravitate toward information that is easy to collect, familiar, or validates what we believe to be true. Even then, gathering that type of information consumes time and attention while doing almost nothing to advance the quality of a decision. You could also take a different approach: Spend only time gathering information that will […]
The Golden Rule of Decision-Making
The golden rule of decision-making is that it is impossible to make a high-quality decision without knowing what you want (value). Similarly, you will never be happy with your decisions if you say you value something but don’t. When you honestly declare to yourself what you value, you open the door to high-quality decision-making, to […]
Take Personal Responsibility
A decision is made when resources are allocated. If it’s just you involved, it’s “your” time, money, and effort. If many are involved in the decision, it’s “our” time, money, and effort. If it’s “your” decision, own your process and the outcomes that show up. If it doesn’t come out as you hoped, learn from […]
It’s Easier to Be Critical Than Creative
Criticizing, correcting, editing, rejecting—these are easy compared to the hard work of creating, originating, and inventing. In every human endeavor I can think of, there is a time and place for both. What’s also true is they don’t go together. It seems intuitively obvious that the correct order of operations is to create first and […]