Mental Model
Finish Work Standards
In construction, finish work—final visible surfaces—operates under different standards than rough work
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Mental Model
Finite Element Thinking
Finite Element Analysis (FEA) solves complex engineering problems by dividing a continuous domain into a mesh of small, simple elements, solving the equations for each element, and assembling the results to approximate t…
Mental Model
FInite Memory Random Walks
A model in which effects of recent shocks persist for a specified finite window, allowing temporary dependence and streaks.
Mental Model
Finite Time Singularity
A finite-time singularity occurs when a model's solution becomes unbounded as time approaches a finite point
Mental Model
FIRE Framework (Financial Independence, Retire Early)
FIRE calculates the savings amount at which investment returns can sustainably cover living expenses indefinitely
Mental Model
First Principles Thinking
An approach that separates essential requirements and supported constraints from inherited assumptions, then reasons toward possible solutions from those starting points.
Mental Model
First-Conclusion Bias
The tendency to lock onto the first plausible explanation or solution and then selectively seek confirming evidence—closing the hypothesis space prematurely
Mental Model
First-mover advantage vs First-mover disadvantage
A comparison of benefits and costs associated with entering a market earlier than rivals
Cognitive Move
fishbone
One effect at the head of a spine, candidate causes fanning off as bones, sub-causes as twigs. It is the one renderer here with no circuit in it, so it is where you start when you can name suspects but cannot yet defend a direction. Grouping the bones by kind stops the list from being a list, and the group carrying the most twigs is usually where to look first.
Mental Model
Fishbowl Discussion Format
A discussion protocol for large groups that preserves the intimacy and depth of small-group conversation
Mental Model
Fisher's Theorem
A population-genetic theorem linking the selection component of fitness change with additive genetic variance in fitness.
Mental Model
Fitna (Social Discord Analysis)
Fitna is the Arabic concept of social discord, civil strife, and communal breakdown -- literally 'trial' or 'temptation' -- that Islamic political thought treats as one of the gravest threats to social order
Mental Model
Fitness Landscape
Sewall Wright's visualization of an evolutionary search space as a topographic landscape where height represents fitness (success) and each position represents a particular strategy or design
Cognitive Move
Fits
Evaluate whether the whole configuration actually improved on function, interfaces, total gain, and sustainability.
Mental Model
Fitting Lines to Data
Straight-line regression estimates a response as an intercept plus a slope times a predictor
Mental Model
Five Elements (Wuxing) Cycle
Wuxing (Five Phases — Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) describes patterns of cyclical change
Mental Model
Five-Component Apology Framework
A comprehensive apology protocol identifying the five elements that make apologies actually work, based on research by Lewicki, Lazarus, and Lax
Mental Model
Five-Step Process (Goals → Problems → Diagnosis → Design → Execution)
Ray Dalio’s loop of goals, problems, diagnosis, design, and execution
Cognitive Move
Fix That Feeds
Ask whether your relief weakens the very capacity that would remove the need for relief.
Cognitive Move
Fix That Feeds
A hypothesis that symptom relief is weakening or replacing the capacity that would actually remove the symptom.
Mental Model
Fixes That Fail Archetype
Peter Senge's system archetype where a quick fix addresses the symptom of a problem but creates unintended consequences that eventually make the original problem worse
Mental Model
Flipped Classroom Model
The flipped classroom inverts traditional instruction: content delivery (lectures, readings) moves outside class via video or text, while class time is dedicated to active learning—problem-solving, discussion, applicatio…
Cognitive Move
Floor
Name the good the goal keeps eating and set the minimum you refuse to drop below. It protects something you already have, so falling under it stops the plan rather than counting as a bad week you make up later.
Cognitive Move
Floor Before Flight
Complete 'even if we hit the goal, it's failure unless ____' and protect those 1 or 2 conditions.