Ideas

Better models for operating in the world.

Feature image for The Dangers of Treating Ideas from Finance as Generalised Self Help

The Dangers of Treating Ideas from Finance as Generalised Self Help

Can we take ideas from finance and apply them to the rest of our lives? I've been acting as it is. The truth isn't that simple.

Feature image for Time Allocation as Capital Allocation

Time Allocation as Capital Allocation

What if we treated time management as a bet allocation problem? Say that we have a finite number of hours, which we might spend on a variety of career activities. How do we figure out what to spend our time on, instead of merely thinking about time management as how to tackle our todo lists?

Feature image for Career Moat Patterns: Tie a Good Thing to a Better Thing

Career Moat Patterns: Tie a Good Thing to a Better Thing

Career moats are inspired by Warren Buffett's conception of a business's 'economic moat'. Here we take a look at a particular type of economic moat, to see what we can take from it when applied to an individual career.

Feature image for How to Ask Questions (So Your Boss Doesn't Hate You)

How to Ask Questions (So Your Boss Doesn't Hate You)

"There is no such thing as a stupid question" is a laudable aphorism. In practice, it's often also wrong.

Feature image for Organisational Politics: Beware the Simple Story

Organisational Politics: Beware the Simple Story

If our brains are built to generate and process narrative, then how can we use this insight to grapple with company politics?

Feature image for Putting Mental Models to Practice Part 6: A Personal Epistemology of Practice

Putting Mental Models to Practice Part 6: A Personal Epistemology of Practice

This is the final part of a series of posts [https://commoncog.com/a-framework-for-putting-mental-models-to-practice/] on…

Feature image for Putting Mental Models to Practice Part 5: Skill Extraction

Putting Mental Models to Practice Part 5: Skill Extraction

Last week we covered a model for expertise called recognition-primed decision making. This week, we talk about how to use that model to build expertise of your own.

Feature image for Putting Mental Models to Practice Part 4: Expert Decision Making

Putting Mental Models to Practice Part 4: Expert Decision Making

Experts make decisions in ways that are very, very different from conventional decision science models. This makes expertise a lot more important to good decision making than you might think.

Feature image for Putting Mental Models to Practice Part 3: Better Trial and Error

Putting Mental Models to Practice Part 3: Better Trial and Error

Instrumental rationality is the sort of thinking that allows you to achieve your goals. We take a closer look at what decision science says is the 'best' way to pursue this purpose.

Feature image for Putting Mental Models to Practice, Part 2: An Introduction to Rationality

Putting Mental Models to Practice, Part 2: An Introduction to Rationality

Any discussion of practicing mental models must begin with a discussion of rationality. We look at what the research tells us about it.