It's messy and disorganized in reality. Frameworks promise to bring order to it in pleasing ways. They blunt the chaos and give you buckets to categorize your observations. However, if you've ever tried to apply any frameworks, you know that they're anything but simple to implement. In the business world, frameworks are used as a crutch for making ... See more

Experts should be evaluated based on the accuracy of their predictive models when you are searching for them. Managers who are constantly surprised by staff departures are less good at predicting them because they have this predictive model in their heads. Good managers are good with people, but great managers are a combination of a systems thinker... See more

How do we deal with failure? There are as many reasons to fear as there are personal hang-ups. Publishing a book or blog post exposes you to criticism like Starcraft at Bronze doesn't. Perhaps you're afraid of showing off your mistakes because you're a perfectionist. Or maybe you're afraid of being judged by others."Reasons don't matter" seems a bi... See more

The idea that 'expertise is just pattern-matching is challenging to me because it doesn't seem like it should be so simple. What about creativity? Don't different mechanisms than prototype-based recognition drive creativity? The short answer seems to be 'yes, creativity relies on connecting different ideas, which is independent of expertise. The an... See more

Professor K. Anders Ericsson explains in his 2016 deliberate practice book that human expertise results from the development of effective mental representations of whatever field you wish to specialize in. Although this view of expertise as tacit knowledge is relatively well-known, it seems uncontroversial. The art of practice, however, may simply ... See more

One of the most challenging ideas I have encountered. The idea is to recognize a situation in a developing environment. This is done by translating that recognition into a set of cues, plausible goals, and expectations, along with a set of trained actions. If you are familiar with the situation, you construct variations of intended actions on the f... See more

I have been aiming to discuss taking action and being decisive in two essays because there seems to be a belief that 'rationality' and mental models are all you need to succeed. Most influential people make better decisions and use thinking tools that assist them in achieving their goals more quickly.

To be effective, we must act decisively on decisions we disagree with. This may seem obvious, but it remains one of the most challenging tasks.

Popular belief holds that making the right decision is the most challenging part. I have found that making a decision you don't want to make is the most challenging part of the process. You can terminate your subordinate, quit your job, lay off a quarter of your employees, and break up with your partner if things don't seem to go well.