Mental Model
Getting In Sync (Alignment Process)
A process of checking that people understand the relevant goal, reasoning, constraints, and expected actions
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Mental Model
Getting Past No Protocol (William Ury)
A five-step breakthrough negotiation protocol for handling difficult negotiators who use hard tactics — stonewalling, attacks, threats, or manipulation
Mental Model
Giving Recognition Protocol (Effective Praise Framework)
A protocol for delivering recognition that actually motivates and reinforces desired behavior, based on self-determination theory and reinforcement research
Mental Model
Global and Local Maxima
A local maximum is the best option in your immediate neighborhood but not the best option overall (the global maximum)
Mental Model
GLOBE Cultural Framework
The Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) project extends Hofstede by measuring nine cultural dimensions across 62 societies, crucially distinguishing between cultural values ('should be') a…
Mental Model
Glocalization Model
Coined by Roland Robertson from the Japanese 'dochakuka' (adapting global techniques to local conditions), glocalization describes simultaneous global integration and local adaptation
Mental Model
Glycemic Index/Load Framework
The glycemic index (GI) ranks carbohydrates 0-100 by how rapidly they raise blood glucose, while glycemic load (GL) multiplies GI by the actual carbohydrate content per serving, giving a more practical measure
Cognitive Move
Goal Triage
Sort conflicting outcomes into must-protect, threshold, optimize, and bonus, plus one tie-break rule.
Cognitive Move
Goalpost Drift
Freeze the original standard and check whether it has quietly slid without anyone choosing it.
Cognitive Move
Goalpost Drift
A hypothesis that pressure is being relieved by quietly lowering the standard, which weakens future correction.
Cognitive Move
Goals
The top tier: the end states you actually want, valuable in themselves rather than because they get you something else. Test each item by asking "why do I want this?" If a further answer exists, the item belongs on a lower tier.
Mental Model
Goals (Clear Objectives)
Explicitly defined outcomes that direct attention, effort, and resource allocation
Mental Model
Goals and Systems
A distinction between intended outcomes and recurring processes that may support them; they can be used together.
Mental Model
Godwin’s Law
The observation that as any online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1
Mental Model
Golden Handcuffs
The phenomenon where compensation, benefits, or accumulated advantages become so valuable that they prevent the recipient from leaving even when they want to—the 'handcuffs' are made of gold but they're still handcuffs
Mental Model
Golden Handcuffs Trap (Extended)
Beyond the basic concept of high compensation preventing career moves, the extended model maps the psychological progression: (1) you take a well-paying job that's 'just for now,' (2) your lifestyle expands to match inco…
Mental Model
Good Faith Principle
Most legal systems impose an implied duty of good faith in contractual relationships—you must deal honestly and fairly with your counterparty, not exploit technical loopholes or withhold information that would fundamenta…
Cognitive Move
Good-result fit
Asks two things of each candidate: does it actually move you toward the outcome you want, and what price does it carry that nobody has said out loud? An option survives only if the payoff is real and the buried costs are ones you would still accept.
Mental Model
Goodhart's Law (When a Measure Becomes a Target)
Charles Goodhart's principle that when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure
Mental Model
Gossip Triangle (Information Laundering)
The communication pattern where information is routed through third parties to achieve objectives that direct communication cannot: influence without accountability, reputation damage without confrontation, or informatio…
Mental Model
Gottman's Four Horsemen of Conflict
John Gottman's Four Horsemen identifies four communication patterns that predict relationship failure with over 90% accuracy: (1) Criticism — attacking the partner's character rather than addressing specific behavior ('Y…
Mental Model
Graceful Degradation Design
Graceful degradation is the design philosophy that when a system experiences failure, it should lose capability progressively rather than catastrophically — continuing to provide reduced but useful functionality rather t…
Cognitive Move
gradient band
A band with fill that shades continuously and no ticks at all. It is the renderer that argues rather than reports. The claim it makes is that there is no boundary in the thing itself, so wherever a cut gets made is a choice someone made. Use it when people are fighting over a cutoff and the picture can show that no cutoff is sitting in the data waiting to be found.