A few years ago I published a large list of mental models I find repeatedly useful ( https://medium.com/@yegg/mental-models-i-find-repeatedly-use... ), discussed at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12040707 . I've spent my spare time since (day job is running DuckDuckGo) with my co-author (statistician, researcher, and wife!) turning that list into this book, which weaves the 300+ mental models into nine narrativ…
Congrats on completing another book! Mental models seem to be a popular topic to write about in the last few years. As someone that has already devoured a lot of content about this, is there a good reason to pick up your book if I don't necessarily want to make the time to read more on the topic?
* The mental model community likes to quote Charlie Munger saying "80 or 90 important models will carry about 90% of the freight in making you a worldly-wise person" and yet no one tries to systematically lists out all these models. This book attempts to do that.
* We spent most of our time finding relatable examples outside the discipline in which a given mental model arises, which is why they are supposed to be useful. That is, we don't just tell you what it is, we try to tell you why it is generally useful in strategic decision making and how you might apply it personally and professionally.
* We dropped the normal method of grouping models by discipline, and instead grouped them by theme, weaving models from different disciplines together around unintended consequences, decision models, etc. (nine chapters).
* We commissioned and/or found illustrations/comics (150+ in total) to help better explain and remember the models, as well as make it more fun to consume!