Top Mental Models for Decision-Making Plus Amazing Video

Think about thinking. Think better. Think faster. Learn to think better while young and you enjoy 'sustainable competitive advantage' for your whole life. 

Let's start slowly with three key 'mental models'.

• Sample size
• Circle of Competence
• Inversion

Sample size is the easiest. To make better judgements about a person, player, or product, more observations are necessary. On our "best day" as a player, we might 'wow' a scout or a fan. On our worst day, they'd be less enthusiastic. 

English scholar Ed Smith says that taking a "weighted average" helps our opinion. How a player performs at home, away, against poor and quality competition aids our assessment. 

But remember that "scouts" or employers also look for disqualifying traits, because they have enough 'headaches' (problem children) already. If the 'scout' sees you throw the ball at the official, she's walking out that door and your chances leave with her. 

Melrose has never had "full on" knuckleheads on its volleyball roster. But the principle still applies.

Circle of Competence. Some say, "stay in your lane." 

There's the 'body of knowledge', 'what we think we know', and 'what we know'. While working to expand our "knowledge base," it's often helpful not to stray far from what we know. 

Imagine that you are the tenth best poker player in the world. Heady stuff. But you're in a game of Texas Hold 'Em with the top five players in the world. Your edge is gone. 

Take a player with a dynamic serve like Leah Fowke. If you had her serve, would you start over with a jump serve or work to refine your already excellent skill? 

Inversion. Mathematician Carl Jacobi said, "Invert, always invert." What would happen if we chose the opposite or another approach? 

We can apply this philosophy across domains. If you were a chess master, do you always play the same opening or vary it? Would a baseball pitcher be better off changing his pitch mix from sixty percent fastballs and forty percent offspeed? Would a volleyball setter enhance the attack efficiency with more sets to the outside, back row, to the opposite?

Former Celtics Assistant Kevin Eastman had a saying when things weren't working, "Do it harder, do it better, change players, or #$%& it ain't working" meaning do something else. 

Consider working through the series to improve our thinking. 

Getting more clarity using mental models will pay you many times over. 

Lagniappe. Amazing video.