“You must know the big ideas in the big disciplines and use them routinely; all of them, not just a few. Most people are trained in one model; economics, for example — and try to solve all problems in this one way. You know the old saying: ‘To the man with a hammer, the world looks like a nail.’ This is a dumb way of handling problems.” — Charlie Munger
What can Charlie Munger, a billionaire, Warren Buffett’s business partner, and vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, teach you about success? A lot.
He’s spent over 50 years transforming himself into one of the shrewdest men in business. He’s Buffett’s, right-hand man. Plenty of people have called him a “learning machine.”
Munger doesn’t just try to lay out a step-by-step blueprint for success. Instead, he shows us something much more valuable: how to become better thinkers.
With more strategic thinking and a rational perspective, it’s easier to weather the inevitable storms and make the most of every opportunity.
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“80 or 90 important models will carry about 90 percent of the freight in making you a worldly-wise person. And, of those, only a mere handful really carry very heavy freight.” — Charlie Munger
What is a Mental Model?
A mental model is the specific thought process you use to examine a problem. There are many types of known mental models, and each one takes a unique view of a foreign concept in order to reduce its complexity. In short, it is the mind’s way of making sense of something.
As James Clear explains: “Each mental model offers a different framework that you can use to look at life…If you develop a bigger toolbox of mental models, you’ll improve your ability to solve problems because you’ll have more options for getting to the right answer. This is one of the primary ways that truly brilliant people separate themselves from the masses of smart individuals out there.”
There are tens of thousands of mental models, and every discipline has its own set that you can learn through coursework, mentorship, or first-hand experience.
Charlie Munger’s Latticework of Mental Models
“You have to learn all the big ideas in the key disciplines in a way that they’re in a mental latticework in your head and you automatically use them for the rest of your life.” — Charlie Munger
Charlie Munger recognized that learning “everything” about the world and its work is impossible. But by relying on the big principles from different fields of knowledge, they developed more mental models (a better framework) to think better and, as a result, make intelligent decisions.
He is head and shoulders above his competitors because he has a larger mental toolbox. This gives him perspective and clarity that his competitors, most of whom stick closely to their niche, don’t have.
When one mental model doesn’t solve a problem or guide him to a decision, Charlie Munger can try another. It’s a recipe for clarity in a confusing world.
Each mental model builds upon all the others because you can layer them and see how they relate. That’s why Munger recommends building a “latticework” of models instead of just a few; each one makes all the others (and the entire system) more effective.
So, where do you even begin to build your own “latticework” of mental models? Read some mental models in thinking below — a few of them you might be practicing without realizing it.
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10 Mental Models To Add To Your Thinking Toolbox
1 — Circle of Competence
Moving out of one’s circle of competence is prone to blind spots that one is unaware of. Yet often, when one is not able to define or think about one’s circle of competence, it leads to the same degree of confidence as when one is really operating within the circle of competence. This is dangerous.
The concept is important because it allows bright people to utilize limited, really valuable insights in a very competitive world when they’re fighting against other very bright, hardworking people.
2 — Divergent vs. Convergent Thinking
Divergent thinking is the process of thinking by exploring multiple possible solutions in order to generate creative ideas. Convergent thinking is the process of figuring out a concrete solution to any problem. The key is to strike a balance.
3 — Historical Wisdom
Studying the past intensely to understand the present and the future because the past makes up the vast majority of events. Scottish historian Niall Ferguson has said: The dead outnumber the living 14 to 1, and we ignore the accumulated experience of such a huge majority of mankind at our peril.
4— Inversion
A thinking tool to get to the root of a problem by thinking of it in reverse. Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi told his students that when looking for a research topic they should; invert, always invert.
5 — Map Territory Relation
The relationship between an object and a representation of that object is always abstract — like a map vs. the territory it represents. A person who has seen and heard descriptions of an apple, but has never tasted it, will not know how it tastes.
6 — Middle Ground Fallacy
The fallacy of compromising two opposing views to land on the middle ground just because it’s the middle ground. For example, if one person says that all elephants can fly, another says that no elephants can fly, it’s a fallacy to agree that perhaps some elephants can fly.
7 — Paradigm Shift
When an important change occurs that replaces the usual way of thinking about or doing something.
8 — Systemics
The study of systems, how they work, how they are related to larger systems, and how they break down or are prone to bottlenecks. It’s a disciplined approach for examining problems more completely.
9 — The 5 Whys
Asking yourself 5 whys about a given subject is a great way to push yourself to find the truth and achieve rationality.
10 — Weasel Words
The illusion is that when someone wants to make it seem like they’ve given a clear answer to a question or made a direct statement when actually they’ve said something inconclusive or vague. Words like “better”, “improved”, and “gains” do not say how much in terms of a complete argument.
The Value of Mental Models is Deep, Not Shallow
Being shown a new mental model isn’t enough. To get real value out of them, you need to understand them deeply. You need to see them in many contexts and get a feel for how they work.
But, if you hear an abstraction come up again and again, and you don’t understand it well, that’s a good sign there’s a hidden mental model waiting to be unlocked.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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